BusinessMirror November 22, 2021

Tax for ‘super rich’ self-defeating–DOF

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

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HE Department of Finance (DOF) has warned that the proposed “super rich tax” bill would defeat its purpose of generating more revenues, as the measure would instead encourage “aggressive” tax avoidance.

In a letter to Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that while the wealth tax being proposed under House Bill 10253 could initially lead to gains in tax collections, he cannot support it as the measure would discourage growth and investments in the long run.

Diminished investments would

result in far greater revenue losses and fewer new jobs to help Filipinos recover from the pandemic, he said.

While the bill’s authors estimate that their proposal will generate P236.7 billion per year, the DOF said it projects a “more conservative” P57.6 billion in revenues, adding that “losses incurred from other taxes are far more substantial.”

Dominguez said the bill is also “prone to aggressive tax avoidance because the so-called ‘super-rich’ will find ways of avoiding tax by transferring their assets to different accounts where they can seek tax relief and exemptions, as proven by what happened in other countries that had imposed a similar wealth tax.

“Thus, wealth taxes fail to significantly promote economic equality or create additional fiscal space.

Moreover, net wealth taxes often failed to meet their redistributive goals as a result of their narrow tax bases, tax avoidance, and tax evasion,” he said.

Under HB 10253, individuals with taxable assets that exceed P1 billion should pay a 1 percent tax, while a tax of 2 percent is imposed on taxable assets over P2 billion, and 3 percent for over P3 billion.

Dominguez also said many countries that had wealth taxes before ended up repealing them because of the increased capital mobility and access to tax havens in other countries. Only four countries continue to

implement the wealth tax—Belgium, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, he said.

On top of this, he said the wealth tax will be “costly and complex to implement” because this would require additional manpower and costs.

According to Dominguez, it would also be difficult to assess all assets held by the rich for subsequent taxation, citing the case of Austria which repealed its wealth tax because it became too costly to maintain.

To determine the various aspects of a “super-rich” taxpayer’s wealth, Dominguez said there would be a need to relax the Bank Secrecy Law and forge exchange of information agreements with other countries.

See “Tax,” A2

STUDY: PRODUCTIVITY

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n

Monday, November 22, 2021 Vol. 17 No.45

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages |

LOSS FROM COVID AT P2.3T DTI to issue SRP for Noche Buena items soon

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@caiordinario

ONG-RUN productivity losses from direct and indirect health impacts of the pandemic reached P2.3 trillion, according to a study released by stateowned think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a discussion paper, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Valerie Gilbert T. Ulep said more than half of this cost is attributed to productivity losses linked to Non-Covid morbidities due to lack of health care.

Based on Ulep’s computation, P1.7 trillion of these losses can be attributed to non-Covid morbidities while P398 billion are due to non-Covid deaths due to the lack of health-care services.

“Of the total long-run cost, indirect health impact accounts for the majority. This reinforces the need to address the indirect health impacts of non-Covid patients as a critical component of the pandemic response,” Ulep said.

Based on the data, Ulep said only P160 billion are attributed directly to Covid-related premature deaths and morbidities, including long-Covid. This is composed of P94 billion for Covid premature deaths and P66 billion for Covid-morbidity, including long-Covid.

“In addition to the direct mortality and morbidity cause by Covid-19, policy approaches to control the spread of the infection have led to unintended consequences, that is, of foregone hospitalization and

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@Tyronepiad

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AS night time falls at Quezon Memorial Circl— one of the big parks where people freed from strict lockdowns have flocked the past week—only colorful lights are seen. The reason: the Quezon City local government prohibits people from staying at the park after 5 p.m. as part of standard health protocols. NONOY LACZA

GREEN-LIST LEISURE TOURISTS GREEN-LIT‘BEFORE DEC’

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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OU R ISM st a keholders welcomed the reopening of the Philippines to international travelers from Green List countries, as government cut the new quarantine schemes for vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Jose C. Clemente

III told the BusinessMirror, “After almost two years, we are very pleased to know that foreign visitors from the Green List countries will soon be allowed to enter the Philippines without need for a quarantine period. We hope that this is the start of the revival of the tourism industry moving forward.”

He added: “We also continue to remind our stakeholders to not let their guard down despite the eased conditions. The pandemic is

still around and we reiterate our call to continue observing health and safety protocols to ensure that we can remain open.”

On Thursday, the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved in principle the entry of fully vaccinated tourists from Green List countries/territories/jurisdictions. Guidelines on their arrival are still being finalized by the Special Technical Working Group on Travel, with

sources averring that the target reopening is “before December.”

(See, “PHL to open borders to fully vaxxed tourists from green-list nations soon,” in the BusinessMirror, November 19, 2021.)

Shorter quarantine for balikbayans

THE Department of Tourism (DOT), meanwhile, welcomed the IATF’s decision to shorten the See “Green-list leisure ,” A2

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will soon release the list of suggested retail prices (SRP) for Noche Buena goods soon.

DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said in a recent virtual briefing that the department will only include on the list those products the prices of which were kept the same or even lower.

Out of 154 products, 94 will have the same price from last year. The prices of 21 items were brought down by the manufacturers, she noted. Castelo said the SRP list will include pasta, sauce, fruit cocktail, cheese, ham and creamer, among others.

“So good news iyon para sa mga consumers natin na maghahain ng Noche Buena sa Pasko [It is good news for consumers who will serve Noche Buena items this Christmas],” she said.

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez previously said that the Noche Buena prices are “relatively stable.”

Lopez explained that price increases are unavoidable but assured the public that they are capped 3 percent.

“Mas mababa pa ‘yung 3 percent kaysa sa inflation rate na 4 percent ‘no; so at least magiging manageable iyong pagtaas ng mga ilang produkto [The 3-percent price increase is still lower than the 4-percent inflation, so the price increase is still manageable],” the DTI chief explained.

Still related to Christmas purchases, Castelo reminded the public to check the Philippine Standard (PS) mark when buying Christmas lights.

See “Productivity,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.3030

See “DTI,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4404 n UK 67.8688 n HK 6.4585 n CHINA 7.8782 n SINGAPORE 37.0857 n AUSTRALIA 36.6156 n EU 57.2096 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4109

Source: BSP (November 19, 2021)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, November 22, 2021

TUCP holds off from filing wage-hike petition–for now

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

ESPITE the rising cost of living and easing of quarantine restrictions, the country’s largest labor group sees no need for a wage hike for now.

In a virtual forum last Sunday, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said they observed that the “real” value of existing minimum wage nationwide has significantly declined after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To note, since the government started imposing lockdowns in March 2020 to contain the spread of the pandemic, the regional wage

Tax...

Continued from A1

He also argued that the country lacks a reliable database to identify the wealthiest individuals in the country.

Although the Bureau of Internal Revenue has a list of its large taxpayers, this is only based on taxes paid and does not include the net worth of the total accumulated

boards have decided to defer issuing new wage orders.

“The minimum wage is currently pegged, at its highest value, at P537,” Tanjusay said, citing the minimum wage for non-agriculture workers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

But given the impact of wage “erosion” caused by rising cost of living such as fuel prices, he noted that the purchasing power wealth of taxpayers.

A study done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that the collection performance of wealth tax is relatively low, partly because of the high administrative and compliance costs, Dominguez said.

Several OECD countries used to have wealth taxes but eventually repealed them. These include Austria (which repealed their wealth tax law

of the said amount is now around P430, which is consistent with the P428.23 “real wage” data of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) in NCR as of last October.

“So that is almost a P100 (wage) erosion,” Tanjusay said.

This trend, he said, is particularly felt by workers, who are not members of a labor union.

“For those with a union, their [wages] gradually increase because they have collective bargaining negotiations, where it is scheduled,” Tanjusay said.

Capacity to pay

TUCP is among the labor groups, which actively file wage petitions before the regional wage boards, particularly in NCR. Tanjusay, however, said they are currently holding off filing for a new round of wage hike petitions in 1994); Denmark (in 1997); Germany (in 1997); the Netherlands (in 2001); Finland, Iceland and Luxembourg (all three in 2006); Sweden (in 2007); and France (in 2017).

For his part, Asian Institute of Management economist John Paolo R. Rivera agreed that there is a risk of tax avoidance if the bill is implemented.

“There is a risk because there [must be] a mechanism that will al-

in consideration of the situation of many establishments, which are still struggling to recover from the business disruptions caused by the pandemic.

“Well, we are generally looking at the idea or principle of capacity to pay or provide wage increase [of employers],” Tanjusay said.

The labor leader said they will continue to monitor the economic situation with the wage boards to determine the proper time to ask for wage hikes.

To note, the government started relaxing restrictions on public movement and business operations earlier this month amid the rising numbers of the country’s vaccinated people and decline in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Many business leaders hope the easing of restrictions will allow many establishments to recover before the end of the year. low the rich to declare 100 percent of their wealth. We cannot even ask people to declare their income, what more wealth?” he said.

While a wealth tax can redistribute income to the economy which could be beneficial to the country’s economic recovery, he also stressed the need for a thorough study, simulation, review, and consultation of the bill because of the constraints identified by the DOF. “There is a need to weigh its cost and benefit. If this will be too burdensome and would create more red tape, leakages, constraints, unintended consequences, and other problems, it may not be the appropriate approach for now,” he said.

BBM-Sara...

Continued from A10

The two also led in the oath-taking of new officials and candidates of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), followed by the blessing and opening of the PFP headquarters in Tagum City.

“I’m really overwhelmed, just seeing the posts and live videos on social media by our supporters.

I don’t know how to thank them for the effort they are showing,” Marcos said.

According to a report from the tandem’s political camp, tens of thousands also joined the caravan in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, the so-called “Solid North” traditionally behind the Marcos family.

Residents of Isabela also poured into the streets, while at least 15,000 BBM supporters trooped to the streets in Abra behind Abra Rep. JB Bernos and other local officials.

R esident s of Pa nga si n a n , Nueva Ecija, and Bataan joined their respective “unity ride” to show support for the BBM-Sara Uniteam.

Thousands also joined the caravans in Bicol Region, Cavite, Batangas, Quezon and Laguna.

In Metro Manila, throngs of BBM-Sara Uniteam supporters from Parañaque, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay, and Manila held their own caravans, while a group of bikers organized a clean-up drive in Manila Bay along the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

“Unity Riders” from Visayas and Mindanao also took to the streets in Bacolod, Aklan, and Cagayan de Oro, where at least 10,000 individuals registered.

Some of the invitations posted on social media since Saturday also stressed that the supporters were not paid and were adv i sed to fol low m i n i mu m health protocols.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Productivity... outpatient visits, increase in the prevalence of malnutrition, mental health, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity, and decline in the uptake of essential prenatal care visits, immunization, ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) and TBDOTS (Directly Observed Therapy) for the Treatment of Tuberculosis (TBDOTS) services,” Ulep stressed.

Based on data obtained by Ulep from the Department of Health (DOH), the number of tuberculosis tests contracted 49 percent to 556,773 in 2020, from 1.08 million in 2019. The target for testing is 2.45 million.

He added that the number of those diagnosed and treated, whether new infections or relapse, declined 37 percent to 256,541 in 2020 from 409,167 in 2019. The target for diagnosis is 442,600.

In terms of HIV, Ulep said the number of HIV tests done in 2020 only reached 480,285 or a decline of 61 percent from the 1.22 million done in 2019.

Further, the number of newly diagnosed cases declined 37 percent to 8,058 in 2020 from 12,778 in 2019 while newly enrolled clients in ART also contracted 28 percent to 8,429 in 2020 from 11,654 in 2019.

“The poor uptake of these critical public health interventions affects the country’s prospect in reducing the incidence of TB and HIV as part of its global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Philippines is one of the countries with the highest TB

Continued from A1

burden, and the country with the fastest growing HIV cases in the world,” Ulep stressed.

Ulep also stated that hospital admissions for adult internal medicine and pediatrics declined by 40 percent and 70 percent, in the second quarter of 2020, relative to the preceding year. He said this reinforced findings of other studies that the pandemic has affected the most vulnerable populations.

Further, he said Regional Health Unit (RHU) consultations declined, particularly among vulnerable populations. This decline was observed among children below 5 years old and the elderly population or those 65 years old and over.

“The large decline in consultations among these age-groups suggests the possible growing unmet need of essential healthcare services. Several factors could have contributed to the large decline in outpatient visits, in particular, the strict stay-in-home imposed on children and elderly since the start of the pandemic,” Ulep said.

Ulep said the data was obtained from 77 different public hospitals located across the Philippines. Of the 77 hospitals submitted, five are from the National Capital Region representing 6.49 percent of the total, while 93.5 percent were from other regions.

He said 55 hospitals are Level 1 facilities representing 71.43 percent of the respondents while seven (7) are Level 2 or 9.09 percent of the total and 14 are Level 3 or 19.48 percent of the total.

Green list-leisure...

hotel quarantine period for fully vaccinated returning overseas Filipinos, including Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and balikbayans from Yellow List countries, from five days to just three days starting Monday, November 22. The bulk of balikbayans (homecoming Filipinos) are from the United States and Canada.

According to an IATF decision last Thursday, fully vaccinated balikbayans from Yellow List countries with a negative RT-PCR result from pre-departure testing within 72 hours, shall only be required to undergo a three-day facility-based quarantine. Government-accredited medical technicians will RT-PCR test them on the third day of quarantine. Upon receipt of a negative test, they can immediately leave their hotels, but are enjoined to complete self-monitoring up to the 14th day from arrival.

However, those without predeparture RT-PCR testing will have to quarantine in an accredited hotel and be RT-PCR tested on the fifth day. They can leave their hotel as soon as they receive a negative test result, but monitor themselves during home quarantine until the 10th day from arrival.

Unvaccinated arrivals shall quarantine in a hotel, with RT-PCR testing done on the seventh day, to be followed by home quarantine up to 14th day upon release of a negative test result.

“This latest development will greatly contribute to the ongoing recovery of the tourism sector this holiday season while also providing more time to those who want to return home to be with their loved

DTI...

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ones in the Philippines,” said Tourism Secretary Romulo Puyat.

No quarantine for vaxxed greenlisters

ALSO starting Monday, as per IATF Resolution No. 149-A issued on November 18, 2021, fully vaccinated Filipinos and foreigners from Green List countries with a negative RT-PCR result from a test taken 72 hours prior to departure, will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival.

“For unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, individuals whose vaccination status cannot be independently validated, and those vaccinated but failed to comply with the above test-before-travel requirements, [they are required to undergo] facility-based quarantine until the release of a negative RTPCR test taken on the fifth day and self-monitor until the 14th day of arrival, with the date of arrival being the first day,” as per said IATF resolution.

Foreigners in this case are diplomats; business persons and investors endorsed by the relevant national government agencies; foreign seafarers on ship rotation; holders of special non-immigrant visas, special retirement and investors visa; and other foreign nationals allowed entry by the IATF and relevant Philippine immigration laws.

Banned from entry are those from Red List countries, except for Filipinos on emergency repatriation. The latter will have to quarantine at a hotel for 10 days, with testing done on the seventh day of arrival.

Continued from A1

“Import commodity clearance is a product safety standard mark, para siguradong pumasa sa kalidad at sa lahat ng testing na ginagawa ng DTI [Import commodity clearance is a product safety standard mark that assures the products passed the quality testing by DTI],” she said.

Castelo said the public may access the list of manufacturers and importers certified by the DTI on their website.

She also reminded consumers

to be vigilant when buying online for their Christmas gifts, noting the DTI has received numerous complaints regarding e-commerce transactions.

Among the complaints: the products are defective, goods were damaged in transit, the wrong item was delivered and purchased goods were not delivered, she said.

Castelo said the consumers may raise their concerns to the DTI’s platform if needed.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Immigration bureau opens office to vaccinated clients

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced it has opened its doors to fully-vaccinated clients seeking to process immigration-related documents at its head office in Intramuros, Manila, sans the need of prior booking through the BI online appointment system.

In an advisory, BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente said vaccination cards or certifications showing that clients are already fully vaccinated would suffice to allow entry at the head office.

Morente said this means the individual should have met the time required by the vaccination. The BI chief said

clients who have yet to be vaccinate or couldn’t show proof of vaccination would still be required to book through the BI’s online appointment system.

Morente said the move is in line with the de-escalation of the National Capital Region to Alert Level 2, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“This would allow us to provide services to more clients while still ensuring that strict health protocols remain in place.”

Prior to this, the BI has extended its work hours in its offices in the National Capital Region, reverting to their regular schedule of 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

‘China won’t interfere in AFP resupply mission at Ayungin’

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

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EFENSE Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana announced he had been assured by China’s ambassador in Manila that Chinese military and paramilitary ships will not interfere in the resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at the Ayungin Shoal.

Lorenzana issued the statement last Sunday following last week’s incident wherein the crew of two Chinese Coast Guard vessels attacked with water cannons two civilians boats tasked to bring supplies to the Filipino soldiers.

“The Chinese will not interfere, per my conversation with the Chinese ambassador,” he said adding he had been talking daily with the ambassador from Tuesday to Saturday.

“We will see if they are true to their words as our Navy will proceed with the resupply this week,” Lorenzana said.

The defense chief said the mission will be undertaken with ships escorted by Philippine Navy or Philippine Coast Guard vessels.

He said he issued the order to Vice Admiral Ramil Roberto B. Enriquez, commander of the AFP Western Command and head of the Area Task West of the National Task Force for

‘Additional health protocols needed for opening schools’

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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CHOOL openings must also be accompanied by a vaccination program and contact tracing measures to ensure that children, teachers and nonteaching personnel are kept safe from Covid-19, according to an economist from the De La Salle University (DLSU).

In a Policy Brief titled, “Education in the Time of Covid: Bridging Inequalities in Access to Opportunities,” DLSU School of Economics Assistant Professor Paulynne J. Castillo said a school-based vaccination program and community transmission monitoring system should be added to the health safety protocols in schools.

Castillo said these programs will help keep schools open— especially those included in the pilot face-to-face learning modality of the Department of Education (DepEd)—for

a longer period of time. This will ensure that the education losses associated with closures are prevented in the near- and medium-term.

“Ensuring that schools in these priority regions are able to keep their doors open longer despite the ongoing threat of Covid-19 could also be achieved by assisting them in establishing schoolbased vaccination programs and school-based community transmission monitoring systems,” Castillo said.

Castillo added that with public schools piloting face-to-face learning, the government should also promote vaccination and address vaccine hesitancy in communities through the students and their families.

She said the DepEd and the Department of Health (DOH) should conduct information campaigns that encourage vaccine trust and confidence as well as institutionalize

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, November 22, 2021 A3

policies to support those who participate in the vaccination programs.

These policies include allowing school personnel to go on sick leave and excusing students who become absent after receiving their vaccine doses. These kinds of policies were already recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the US Department of Education.

In terms of monitoring Covid-19 transmissions, Castillo said, the country can adopt the color-coded matrix designed by the CDC to categorize Covid-19 community transmissions based on total new cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days.

Based on the system, she said schools belonging to communities with low transmission, sports and extracurricular activities will be allowed provided that participants observe at least six feet of physical distance.

In areas where transmission

is moderate or high, Castillo said schools can conduct an expanded screening or testing for students at least once a week.

“Reopened schools in the Philippines— with the help of the DepEd, DOH and the relevant local government units—may use a similar system as the basis for expanding learning opportunities while guarding the health and safety of the institutions and the communities to which they belong,” Castillo said.

Castillo said school closures due to Covid-19 led to a significant decline in enrollment, preventing 2.73 million students from studying in the school year 2020-2021.

In order to address the problems created by online distance learning and with the decline in Covid-19 cases, the government decided to allow face to face classes in 120 schools.

This is composed of 100 public and 20 private schools as of November 15.

the West Philippine Sea. Lorenzana didn’t say what vessels the Philippines will use for the resupply mission, which will take place any time this week.

On Tuesday last week, the crew of Chinese Coast Guard ships attacked two civilian ships chartered by the Navy to bring supplies to its troops guarding Ayungin and who were stationed in the partly sunken ship BRP Sierra Madre.

The 2-hour attack, which drew condemnations from the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany and France, broke the outrigger of one of the two boats, prompting them to abort their mission and head back

to Palawan.

The US warned China that public vessels are covered in the South China Sea by the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty as it declared that China’s demeanor undermined international maritime’s rules-based order.

“The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of this escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability, escalates regional tensions, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law and undermines the rules-based international order,” the US State Department also said.

DOLE allows child actors to attend on-site shoots

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HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has allowed child actors below 15 years old to do onsite shoots in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2.

The policy is contained in Labor Advisory 22-2021 that Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III issued last Thursday. The order updates the labor department’s rules for the participation of children in public entertainment or information during the implementation of the Alert Level System (ALS).

In the 2-paged issuance, Bello said these minors must be fully vaccinated before they go on-camera in studios or location shoots.

He also noted that minimum health standards such as wearing of face masks and social distancing should be strictly exercised in the location where the minor will be present.

“In case the employer will provide the child with costumes, props, or materials needed in the work to

be performed, the employer shall ensure that these are thoroughly disinfected before handing [these] over to the child,” Bello said.

The employer of the minor must also secure the necessary authorization from the local government unit (LGU), where the child performance will be held, as well as the required permit from the labor department.

“The DOLE Regional Offices may issue internal guidelines on the manner of accepting applications and release of working child permits. They may use their existing online system or may accept applications via email,” Bello said.

The said application form must also be accompanied by letter indicating that the employer complied with all the other earlier mentioned requirements.

Bello stressed that the concerned child actors have the right to refuse to work in accordance with Republic Act 9231 and Republic Act 11058. Samuel P. Medenilla

PRC vows to act vs road-traffic ills Lawmakers seek passage of contactless-arrest law

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OINING the international community in commemorating the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has vowed to push in providing a platform for road-traffic victims and their families.

The PRC noted that November 21 is the day dedicated to remembering the millions of lives lost as road-traffic victims throughout the world. The PRC said in a statement that the theme for this year is “Remember, Support, Act.” The organization also noted the year 2021 is the year that marks the start of the new Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 to 2030.”

The PRC said it will push for the objectives of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which are to: remember

all people killed and seriously injured on the roads; acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services; and, draw attention to the generally-trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries.

Other objectives are: to advocate for better support for road traffic victims and victim families and to promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.

“The PRC reminds us all that the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims puts the spotlight on the reduction of traffic speeds,” the PRC said. “Low speed has the potential to prevent many deaths and serious injuries, particularly the pedestrians and all other vulnerable road users.” Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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AWMAKERS are pushing for the passage of the proposed no-contact apprehension law to curb abuses of traffic enforcers.

Rep. Manuel Luis T. Lopez (1st district, Manila) said the House Committee on Metro Manila Development (HCMMD) and the House Committee Transportation are now consolidating House Bill (HB) 5656 and HB 9368 for the institution of a nationwide “No Contact Apprehension” policy for traffic violations.

According to Lopez, chairman of the HCMMD, numerous concerns and problems came-up not only with respect to abusive traffic enforcement but also with respect to

traffic laws and regulations, which differ from one local government to another.

“It is true that these various traffic schemes and policies among different jurisdictions cause quite a lot of confusion to our countrymen. Most travelers do not just drive around in one city or municipality. Almost always, one’s journey brings us to multiple cities that, unfortunately, have different traffic policies,” he said.

“Worse, due to the subjective tendencies of different traffic enforcers, motorists are the ones at the losing end. And in some cases, maybe I can speak of what is experienced in in Manila, perhaps due to lack of training or maybe due to the culture of abuse of power, the mindset of many Manila traffic enforcers is

seemingly focused on catching traffic violators, rather than fixing the traffic problem in their assigned areas.

Manila is sadly getting notorious for its ‘kotong’ enforcers and growing corruption,” he added.

The solon said these types of abuses could be averted only if Congress puts some order to this “mess.”

The senior lawmaker said the passage of the aforementioned bills is much needed, to achieve a systematic and uniform traffic policy.

Adopting and institutionalizing the “No-Contact Apprehension” policy for traffic violations is definitely a step towards achieving this goal, according to the lawmaker.

Lopez said erring motorists, who at times evade being caught when there are no traffic enforcers, can

no longer escape the consequences of their driving violations as CCTV camera systems will be in place 24-7 to capture such violations.

“Abusive and corrupt traffic enforcers will also be a thing of the past, as they will no longer have the authority, in general, to make a faceto-face or close contact traffic-related apprehension,” he added.

“As we are living in harder and more challenging times, dealing with inconsistent and abusive traffic management policies should not be made to compound these already heavy burdens,” Lopez said.

Deputy Speaker Weslie Gatchalian of Valenzuela, meanwhile, presented to the committee an effective model of no contact apprehension implemented in his city.

QC supports bike use in push for safer, greener transport F

OLLOWING the completion of the 93-kilometer exclusive bicycle lanes, the Quezon City (QC) government is set to establish various facilities for bikers in line with the implementation of City Ordinance 2988-2020 or the “QC Safe Cycling and Active Transport Ordinance of 2020.”

The ordinance, authored by Councilor Fernando Miguel F. Belmonte, ensures the safety and seamless travel of the cycling public in the city and promote a healthier and active lifestyle.

“Nang magsimula ang pandemya noong nakaraang taon, nakita nating naging pangunahing mode of trans-

portation na ang bisikleta. Kaya naman, sinikap ng pamahalaang lungsod na magkaroon ng maayos na pasilidad, daanan, at batas para naman ma-protektahan natin ang mga biker lalo na sa pagbaybay nila sa mga pangunahing lansangan,” Mayor Maria Josefina Tanya “Joy” G. Belmonte said.

The ordinance mandates all city government offices and facilities to put up end-of-trip facilities or designated places that supports bikers. Facilities include bike parking areas, shower facilities, and hydration areas.

Bike parking must be established in all government agencies in QC, as well as in MRT and LRT stations

within the city. Further, through City Ordinance 2369-2014, establishments such as malls, restaurants, groceries, and banks are required to put up bike racks.

Green rest or repair stations will also be constructed in public areas. Common tools such as bike pumps, hex keys, and wrenches will be installed in a manner that prevents theft and vandalism, while ensuring convenience in the use of cyclists.

On the other hand, separate shower facilities and changing areas for different genders will be installed close to the parking area. The hydration area will be located in close

proximity to the entrances of city government buildings.

Soon, an additional 81.7 km of protected bike lanes will be opened, as stated in the city’s Enhanced Climate Change Action Plan for 2021-2050. A pedestrian and bikers bridge across Katipunan Road linking the Ateneo and Miriam Campuses with UP Campus will also be constructed.

“Bilang katuparan ng ating mithiing maging bike-friendly city ang lungsod, tuluy-tuloy ang mga programa natin. Maliban sa pagiging mode of transport, mainam din ang pagbibisikleta para mapanatili ang malusog na pangangatawan at mabawasan ang

carbon emission para sa mas malinis na hangin,” the mayor said.

To ensure the strict implementation of the ordinance, the city has also established the QC Bicycle and Active Transport Section under the Green Transport Office of the Department of Public Order and Safety.

Bike patrols were also assigned to different areas to ensure the safety of the cyclists and apprehend motorists obstructing the exclusive bike lane.

Meanwhile, since August 2021, the city has distributed over 1,800 bicycles to daily wage workers and those most needing of alternative mode of transport.

Helmets were also provided to over 12,300 bikers traversing the city before the implementation of the City Ordinance SP-2942 S2020 or the Bicycle Riders Helmet Ordinance of Quezon City.

To further promote cycling as an active and healthier transport, the city organized various activities such as the Bike Run Activity during the city’s celebration of its 82nd founding anniversary.

On November 25, the local government will launch QC Cycle to End VAW as a kick-off event for the commemoration of the 18-day campaign to end violence against women.

A4 Monday, November 22, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Mandatory vaccination may spur labor disputes–TUCP

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

M

ORE companies may face labor disputes once the government implements the mandatory vaccination for employees who will be assigned onsite work, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

TUCP Spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror that even with the new policy of the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease

(IATF), some labor groups are already questioning the legality of the mandatory inoculation scheme such as “no vaccine, no benefits.”

Tanjusay noted t hat some non-TUCP affiliated labor groups sought their advice on how to handle such cases.

“We are in constant communication because they don’t want to be vaccinated because of some concern,” he told the BusinessMirror. “That is why they may challenge the said policy [of their company] before the court if they

are mandated to get vaccinated.”

The labor leader said these cases may increase by December 1 once government starts allowing employers to make it mandatory for onsite workers to be fully inoculated against Covid-19.

Instead of punitive action, Tanjusay said, private firms should give incentives to workers to encourage them to voluntarily get Covid-19 jabs. The incentives proposed by the TUCP include tax credits, cash aid, house and lots, or even leave credits.

As an example, he cited the case of a local TUCP-affiliated union in the food manufacturing industry that gave leave credits to vaccinated workers.

“It worked,” Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror. “Now 90 percent of their workers are now vaccinated because of that policy.

Unfortunately, he said only a few companies are still providing such incentives to its workers.

“That is why we would like to suggest to the IATF to come out with a policy on this,” Tanjusay said.

DAR, Davao de Oro After tarpaulin-fall causes outage, firm farmers agree on cites law vs obstruction of power lines rice-price ceiling

By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

HE government was able to convince at least nine agrarian-reform beneficiaries’ organizations, or ARBOs, in Davao de Oro to agree to put a price ceiling on the rice they sell.

The Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committees (Parccom) announced the farmers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) stating that they will sell their products at a “reasonable” price.

The move is expected to address the problem on rice inflation in the province, according to the Parccom, a unit of the Department of Agriculture mandated by law “to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the provincial level.” Many farmers, although the primary producers of food, often complain that they themselves cannot afford the skyrocketing cost of agricultural products and commodities, particularly rice, according to the Parccom.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the continued increase in international oil prices could have spillover effects, causing food to become expensive in the coming months. (See “Inflation slows to 4.6 percent in October, but rising oil prices to have spillover effects–PSA,” BusinessMirror, November 5, 2021) The PSA announced last November 5 that inflation slowed to 4.6 percent in October from the 4.8 percent posted in September.

Inflation averaged 4.5 percent in the Januaryto-October period.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the government has put in place measures to prevent an increase in food prices.

“One of the government’s highest priorities amid the mobility restrictions is to ensure stable access to affordable food. The temporary importation of pork has worked in the National Capital Region. We need to leverage this momentum to allow unhampered supply to the wet markets and to all the regions,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said.

According to Parccom Acting Chairman Jerry F. Barayuga, officials of the ARBOs “are working hand-in-hand to ease the price of rice to benefit the affected poor consumers.”

DAR-Davao del Oro Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Jupiter S. Arandela Jr. said the DAR would continue to provide support services in the countryside “to empower farmer-beneficiaries and ARBOs.”

D

AVAO CITY—The Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Power Co. has reminded city residents to observe a law against disrupting power lines, pointing out to successive power outages in two days of late October caused by “bad weather, flood and a dislodged tarpaulin.”

Davao Light Assistant Vice President For Engineering Operations Orville C. Lazaro said they’re reiterating their call against power-line obstructions “after the incident [that] caused inconveniences to many.”

“This is not the first time that we experienced an outage with a tarpaulin as a cause,” Lazaro said.

He added that tarpaulins “have been giving us problems.” Lazaro said they have requested the billboard owners “to regularly inspect these tarpaulins which over time deteriorate.”

“Being the owner of these structures, you have the responsibility to clear the area along the power lines,” he added.

Lazaro cited Republic Act 11361, or the AntiObstruction of Power Lines Act. The law provides for “uninterrupted conveyance of electricity from generating plants to end users and protect the integrity and reliability of the country’s transmission, sub-transmission and distribution systems by keeping the land beneath, the air spaces surrounding and the area traversed by power lines clear of dangerous obstructions.”

Lazaro said his company “would continue to protect [our] lines and campaign against power-line obstructions.” He said the firm is also asking the public to report any incident or situation such as kite flying, planting of tall trees, installation of billboard

tarpaulins and all other activities “that will possibly lead to obstruction or pose hazards to power lines and the community.”

According to Lazaro, the company’s linemen aboard a boom truck had to remove the 100-feet high billboard tarpaulin that fell on power lines and blamed as one three causes for the wide-area power interruption in Davao City last October.

“We experienced various power interruptions during these two nights with causes ranging from heavy rains and flooding, with the latter, being unavoidable in view of safety,” he said.

“However, a wide area interruption on these two nights was caused by a billboard tarpaulin [falling on power lines], which could have been entirely avoided.”

A wide-area power outage on the night of October 25 was attributed to a transient fault, or a temporary disturbance along the lines.

According to Lazaro, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) employees who conducted a survey of their transmission lines from New Loon in Mintal to Magtuod in Maa failed to find the cause of the outage.

“The same thing happened with Davao Light’s survey of its power distribution lines from Magtuod to the Bajada substation: no line problem was seen,” he added.

It was only after the wide-area interruption on the evening of October 27 that employees saw a tarpaulin barely hanging on a billboard along Buhangin intersection.

“It was seen swinging with the strong winds thereby repeatedly hitting Davao Light’s 138-kilovolt power line,” Lazaro said. “The tarpaulin might have been dislodged from where it was attached because of the bad weather the past few days.”

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Lawmaker seeks OK of bill giving more benefits to health workers

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

SENIOR lawmaker is calling on Congress to immediately pass a bill providing insurance coverage, special risk allowance and other benefits to health workers.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. said last Sunday that the benefits cover both public and private health workers and would be granted to them during the period of the state of national calamity resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This measure will ensure that our heroes in the fight against Covid-19 will resumereceivingthebenefitsgrantedto themunderthe‘Bayanihan2’law,which expired in June,” Villafuerte, principal author in the House of both the Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2 laws, said.

The measure for medical frontliners comprises five bills—introduced

by Villafuerte and several other lawmakers—that were recently approved in principle by the House health committee.

Once enacted into law, Villafuerte said the benefits will be granted to health personnel, including barangay health workers, until September 12,

2022. That day ends the state of calamity, unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant.

Data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that under Bayanihan 2, a total of 475,723 out of more than 526,000 health workers had received special risk allowances from December 20, 2020 to June 30, 2021, amounting to P7.567 billion.

The benefits to be given to health workers under the bill—to be known as “Covid-19 Benefits for Health Workers Act of 2021” include the following: monthly special risk allowance for all directly catering to or in contact with Covid-19 patients; hazard duty pay; and, life insurance, accommodation, transportation and meals.

House Bill (HB) 7490, one of the five bills to be consolidated by a technical working group, seeks government to provide all healthcare frontliners a hazard pay equivalent to at least 30 percent of their respective basic salaries for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Villafuerte said he ensured this hazard pay would also be given to workers of third-party service contractors (like security guards and janitors) who are assigned to medical facilities treating Covid-infected patients.

UAE resumes hiring of Filipino workers

T

HE United Arab Emirates (UAE) has resumed hiring thousands of overseas Filipino workers as businesses have started to pick up in the Arab state this year, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Labor Attaché John Rio A. Bautista of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in Dubai said around 6,000 to 7,000 Filipino household service workers (HSW) with verified contracts have been deployed in the UAE this year despite the ongoing novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

This could still increase further before the end of year since he said they processed 8,000 job orders for HSW since early April, To note, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) finally signed a new memorandum of understanding with the UAE government for a new standard employment contract for Filipino HSWs last March.

In 2014, the labor department stopped the verification of employ-

ment contracts due to a disagreement with the UAE government on which standard to use.

“The initial implementation of the memorandum of understanding between the Philippines and UAE is really fruitful. The benefits for our HSWs are stated in the comprehensive employment contract.

For instance, the provision of the minimum wage amounting to 1,500 Dirhams [about P20,626.97 at current exchange rates],” Bautista said.

Aside from Filipino HSWs, the labor attaché also said UAE employers have started re-hiring displaced OFWs. Bautista said this includes the more than 600 OFWs, who were rehired by their previous employer Dubai Duty Free shops.

In another development, Bautista said inclusion of UAE to the “green list” travel restriction of the government has led to more OFWs planning for a home coming during the Christmas season.

DPWH starts mountain tunnel for Davao City bypass project

T

HE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the construction of a 2.3-kilometer 2-tube mountain tunnel in Davao City has officially started with a kick-off ceremony of the tunnel excavation activities last November 19.

The road tunnel is part of the 10.7 kilometers Contract Package I-1 of the “Davao City Bypass Construction Project” (DCBCP) implemented by the DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations to improve the transport logistics and mitigate vehicular traffic congestion in Davao City, the agency said in a statement.

According to DPWH Undersecretar y for UPMO Operations Emil K. Sadain, the tunnel project was designed by Japanese experts to

have better seismic resiliency.

The contract package costing P13.230 billion has an estimated completion date of January 2024, according to the DPWH. While construction of the tunnel is the centerpiece of the project contract package, the contract also includes the construction of a 7.9 km 4-lane road, three pairs of bridges with a total length of 500 meters, two underpasses, two overpasses, a dozen box-culverts (waterways) and four at-grade intersections.

The 45.5-kilometer bypass road that will begin in Barangay Sirawan, Toril, Davao City and will end at Barangay J.P. Laurel, Panabo City will cut the usual travel time of 1 hour and 44 minutes via Maharlika Highway to just 49 minutes, according to the DPWH.

OFFICIALS, guests and staff of the Department of Public Works and Highways are shown in this November 19 photo at the construction site of a 2.3-kilometer mountain tunnel in Davao City.

PHOTO COURTESY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS

300 Chinese fishing militia boats in WPS–think tank. . .

SBFV militias are different from the first type of Chinese maritime militias who are professionals, with uniformed crew operating vessels that were designed with weapons storage facilities. They are the first batch of militias who initially came from the villages of Tanmen Township in Hainan province

south of China.

“Both professional militia and SBFVs participate in large deployments aimed at asserting Chinese sovereignty, and both deny access to ships from foreign countries, but statements from Chinese officials suggest that more aggressive operations would first

be entrusted to professional militia vessels,” the report added.

The US think tank said militias pose “significant challenge” to other claimant countries.

“Competing claimants lack the maritime capacity to match the size and quan-

continued from a10

tity of China’s boats. Other powers that have an interest in preventing maritime coercion are often only equipped with the blunt instrument of naval power, the deployment of which against ostensible fishing vessels would be both escalatory and impractical,” it added.

Quiboloy could still be extradited despite local case–Guevarra. . . continued from a10 “Our heart goes to Pastor Quiboloy and to all the Kingdom leaders who were maliciously accused in this present controversy,” it said.

It said “we are confident and ready to face whatever is hurled against Pastor Quiboloy

and the Kingdom leaders. We trust the process of justice and we certainly expect the truth to prevail, and the Kingdom ministry will continue to prosper.”

It described the indictment as “once again,

another vicious attempt to bring down Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and some of the Kingdom leaders” and said this was organized “just recently” in the United States.

“But The Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The

Name Above Every Name and all its followers remain steadfast and committed to faithfully respond to its mission, its ministry and its divine calling despite all the detraction efforts made against them,” it added.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, November 22, 2021 A5

BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO

Hog raisers to get ₧461-M indemnity soon–DA

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will soon complete the indemnification of all backyard raisers whose hogs were culled by the government to contain the spread of African swine fever (ASF).

The DA said it received a total of P2.158-billion indemnification request from backyard hog raisers whose pigs were culled in ASF-infected areas. Hog raisers are entitled to receive P5,000 for every culled pig.

The agency said it has already paid about 78.63 percent or P1.697

billion of the total indemnification request. A total of 48,530 hog raisers benefited from the scheme.

The DA said the remaining P461 million of indemnification, covering 92,200 culled pigs, will soon be released following President Duterte’s approval of the additional indemnification fund.

“We thank President Duterte for recently approving our request for the additional P461 million that completes our ASF indemnification payments, amounting to P2.158 billion,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

The DA added that it continues to provide financial and technical

assistance to ASF-affected hog raisers through its twin repopulation programs: “Bantay ASF sa Barangay” and Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives.

“We will continue to provide farmers with needed technical and financial assistance, so they can start anew, as we strongly pursue efforts to contain, manage and control the ASF, and subsequently revive the country’s swine industry.”

The DA said it has distributed 8,169 sentinel pigs to 3,061 farmerbeneficiaries in 312 ASF-free barangays to date.

It added that it will establish 10 community-based production facili-

Solon backs farmers’ call to stop Udenna water project in Quezon

T

HE Lumbo Spring Bulk Water Supply Project in Dolores, Quezon of Udenna Water Integrated Services Inc. will cause water shortage and endanger the livelihood of farmers in the province, according Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said he has filed a resolution supporting various groups who oppose the project. He urged the Senate to express support for the local farmers, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and the local governments of Dolores and Tiaong who are all against the project.

The local farmers, along with NIA and the local governments of Dolores and Tiaong, have said that this project will cause water supply shortage and livelihood problems in the province.

“There is a clear threat of irrigation water shortage due to the

increasing number of water users both for domestic and agricultural use. The proposed project and the continuous decrease of water discharge will jeopardize the government’s thrust toward food security and will decrease farmers’ potential income,” NIA said in the resolution.

In an earlier statement, Tiaong’s local government mentioned that it has received concerns from farmers that the project will negatively impact their livelihood and food production.

Advocacy group Mamamayan Para sa Kapakanan ng Kalikasan ng Bukal ng Lumbo supports the position of other organizations, saying the water supply project will only benefit a few sectors at the expense of people living in downstream communities.

Pangilinan, who previously chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture,

echoed the sentiments of the groups, particularly mentioning the dilemma that local farmers would face in case the project pushes through.

On November 18, 2020, the San Pablo City Water District and Dolores Water District issued a Notice of Award for the development of the Lumbo Spring Bulk Water Supply Project in Dolores, Quezon to the Consortium of Udenna Water Integrated Inc., Inclam S.A., and Optimus Engineering and Construction under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

The P103-million project will draw for a period of 25 years, 12 million liters of water daily from the Lumbo Spring in Dolores, Quezon, with 10 million liters of which to be diverted to users from another city, San Pablo, Laguna. Only 2 million liters of water shall be for the use of the municipality of Dolores, Quezon.

DAR: Project ConVERGE benefits Zambo del Sur farmers

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

HE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has recently turned over to farmer-beneficiaries a package of support services to boost production in the towns of Ramon Magsaysay and Tambulig in Zamboanga del Sur province.

The P27-million support services projects include a 2.16-kilometer farm to market road Phase II from Barangay Gabunon to Alang-Alang in Tambulig, amounting to P25,029,502; one unit recirculating batch mechanical dryer worth P1.35 million and a multipurpose building/warehouse amounting to P1.2 million.

The DAR Zamboanga del Sur said the project implemented under the DAR-Project ConVERGE (Convergence on Value Chain Enhancement

for Rural Growth and Empowerment) benefitted farmers belonging to Campo IV CARP Beneficiaries and Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CIVCABEFAMCO) and Gabunon Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (GARBENCO).

Assistant Regional Project Director Agnes Maata said the turned-over projects would address the farmers’ clamor for support services to complement their agricultural endeavors.

“The projects would pave the way for farmers and DAR-assisted cooperatives in the province to institutionalize and fully operationalize their value chain enterprise on conventional rice and organic rice production, milling, and marketing,” Maata said.

Project ConVERGE is funded under the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which has the objective of boosting the ru-

ral economy and reducing poverty in rural areas by empowering agribusiness enterprises and catalyzing market opportunities.

IFAD Country Programme Officer Director Jerry Pacturan said IFAD entered into a financial agreement with the government of the Philippines with goals of supporting the development of inclusive, sustainable, and resilient commodity chains, providing farmers and agribusinesses with a range of services, including access to finance and business as well as key economic infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads.

“I am hopeful that the entrusted projects will help agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) enrich their agribusiness enterprise so that my subsequent visits will be of ceremonies for the improvements and developments attained by these cooperatives,” Pacturan said.

ties in ASF-free areas or “green zones” through clustering and consolidation, worth P50 million, including a climate-controlled 300-head grower capacity building located in a biosecured area and 16 swine breeder multiplier farms, worth P125 million, in partnership with hog farmers’ cooperatives and associations, local government units (LGUs), and state universities and colleges.

The government is allotting a total of P42.8 billion for lending to backyard and commercial hog raisers in ASF-free areas through

the Land Bank of the Philippines (P30 billion), Development Bank of the Philippines (P12 billion) and the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (P800 million).

“The DA is encouraging backyard and commercial hog raisers to have their animal stocks insured with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. to avail of insurance coverage of up to P10,000 for fatteners and P14,500 for breeders, respectively,” it said.

The agency said it has procured and distributed 134 ASF rapid PCR test kits to LGUs to boost their early

detection and surveillance efforts on the ground. The DA disclosed that next year, all DA Regional Animal Diagnostic Laboratories will have RT-PCR equipment that can be used not only to detect ASF virus, but also other animal or human disease-causing organisms.

“We, therefore, renew our call to all backyard and commercial raisers across the country to fine-tune their respective production and biosecurity protocols, adhering to the new normal, and altogether prevent ASF infection and resurgence.”

A6

Monday, November 22, 2021

The World BusinessMirror

Top US admiral warns about China threat at Halifax forum

H

ALIFAX, Nova Scotia—The head of the US Indo-Pacific Command said Saturday the United States and its allies need to operate with a greater sense of urgency amid rising tensions and China’s increasingly assertive military actions.

Adm. John C. Aquilino reaffirmed America’s commitment to achieving a free and open IndoPacific region during meetings with allies at the Halifax International Security Forum.

“Look at what the Chinese have said. President Xi [Jinping] has tasked his forces to be at a level of military parity with the United States by 2027. Those are his words,” Aquilino said in a meeting with journalists.

Aquilino said the US and its allies need to work together more frequently in international waters to build interoperability so they can operate together quickly if needed.

“We need to deliver capabilities sooner and faster,” he said Tensions have heightened as the Chinese military has dispatched an increasing number of fighter jets near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

China has threatened to use force to unite with it if necessary.

This week Chinese coast guard ships also blocked and sprayed water at two Philippine boats carrying supplies to a disputed South China Sea shoal in a flare-up of long-simmering territorial disputes in the strategic waterway.

China claims v irtually the entire South China Sea and has transformed seven shoals into missile-protected island bases to cement its assertions, ratcheting up tensions and alarming rival claimants and Western governments led by the US. President Xi has overseen an assertive foreign policy and expansion of the party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army. It has the world’s secondlargest military budget after the United States and is developing submarines, stealth aircraft and ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

“They are working at a very accelerated pace,” Aquilino said.

The US and its allies have been promoting the goal of a free and

Malaysian PM’s party wins landslide victory in state polls

M

ALACC A, Malaysia— Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Malay party won a landslide victory in a state election Saturday, defeating its allies in the ruling coalition as well as the opposition ahead of national polls.

The victory in southern Malacca state by Ismail ’s United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, was seen as a bellwether that could shape alliances in national elections following a period of political turmoil. The elections are not due until 2023 but are widely expected to be called next year.

UMNO had led Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, but was ousted in 2018 elections by opposition leader Ibrahim Anwar’s reformist alliance following a multibillion-dollar financial scandal that led to the corruption conviction of former Prime Minister Najib Razak.

A nwar’s a l liance cr umbled last year after Muhyiddin Yassin withdrew his Bersatu party and formed a new government with UMNO, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and several others.

Muhyiddin was forced to resign in August due to infighting, and Ismail, who was Muhy iddin’s deputy, took office, bringing back UMNO’s rule.

UMNO and Bersatu, the two biggest parties in the ruling alliance, are at loggerheads but have agreed to share power until the next general election. Both parties are vying for the support of ethnic Malays, who account for two-thirds of Malaysia’s 31 million people.

The Election Commission said the UMNO-led National Front coalition secured 21 of the 28 state assembly seats, Anwar’s opposition won five and Bersatu two.

“ Vo t e r s r e t u r n e d t o t h e UMNO/National Front fold as this coalition is associated with greater financial security at a time of insecurity” amid the coronavirus pandemic, said Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert w it h Ma l aysi a’s Not t i ngh a m University.

She said it was also a major defeat for the opposition and showed that voters rejected Anwar’s leadership.

UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also on trial for corruption, said the people of Malacca sent a clear signal that they wanted “stability and prosperity.” Opposition politicians blamed a low voter turnout of 66% for their loss.

Analysts have said that a big win for UMNO could potentially lead to challenges in ruling party states that are led by Bersatu, accelerate plans for early general elections and may prompt the Islamic Party PAS and others supporting Bersatu to review their alliance.

C a mp a i g n i n g i n M a l a c c a , which is around a two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, was muted amid strict rules as the country emerged from a virus lockdown last month after a successful vaccination rollout. Political rallies and house visits were banned, taking the campaigning to social media.

The polls were held as Malaysia gradually reopens its borders to vaccinated travelers. The countr y has vaccinated more than 76% of its population, including most adults. Daily infections have dropped dramatically to around 6,000 from its peak of more than 20,000 in August.

The country has recorded 2.57 million cases and nearly 30,000 deaths. AP

Adm. John Aquilino, center, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, arrives for a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, not shown, at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP

open Indo-Pacific to ensure peace, free navigation and rule-based international order in the key international sea lanes, a move also joined by Japan, Australia and India in a framework known as the Quad. The strategic dialogue is seen as a move to counter China’s increasing influence in the region.

Britain and France, as well as some other nations, have also shifted their attention to the region and recently conducted joint military exercises.

China has defended its growing maritime activities, saying it has the right to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.

“We are fighting for our values and our ability to be free. Those are the stakes,” Aquilino said.

“The difference between free and open or authoritarian and closed. Which Indo-Pacific would you like to be a part of? It’s clear for the like-minded nations,” he added.

Aquilino met with the Canadian chief of defense along with Canada’s minister of defense on Friday.

In its 13th year, the Halifax International Security Forum attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.

About 300 people gather each year in an intimate setting at Halifax’s Westin hotel. AP

Singapore eases dining limits, cautious on additional moves

S

ingapore will relax some virus-related curbs from Monday, allowing five people from different households to sit together at restaurants, although ministers cautioned against expecting any more major easing this year.

“We are now transiting towards living with Covid-19 and I know many or some prefer to open up more quickly, but we must do so in a very careful and step-by-step manner,” Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said at a multi-ministry task force briefing on Saturday.

Singapore will also increase the limit on social gatherings to five people from two, and visits to hospitals and residential care homes will be extended to those who are medically ineligible for vaccination from Dec. 1.

Despite the optimism over a recent decline in daily infections, officials warned that they will refrain from significantly easing restrictions further until 2022, amid concerns that year-end festivities may result in a new wave of cases.

Other measures announced include: n Allowing individuals to receive booster vaccinations five months after their second dose, instead of six. n Increasing the number that can dine-in at hawker centers and coffee shops to five vaccinated people. n Resuming in-person visits to residential care homes and hospitals.

The latest rounds of Covid curbs were imposed on Sept. 27 amid the city-state’s worst virus surge yet. It included making work-from-home the defau lt, which will not change from Monday. Any return to office moves will only be made in a very “cautious approach,” Gan said.

The Southeast Asian nation re-

ported a total of 1,734 new cases as of noon on Nov. 19, down from 2,038 the day before, bringing the weekly infection growth rate, a key government metric for easing, down to 0.77. That’s the lowest since the Ministry of Health started reporting such data two months ago.

There’s been a rising trend in the proportion of Covid-19 cases involving children under 12, according to the health ministry’s Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak, who added that Singapore is “hopeful” it will expand vaccine eligibility for kids from January.

The task force said it expected infections to rise after relaxing measures.

“If we seek to push the limits, let our guard down, we will spark a resurgence of cases which can very quickly overwhelm our hospital system yet again,” said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the virus task force. “We are trying very hard to avoid such a scenario and that’s why we are moving incrementally and easing in small steps.”

The island-state has moved in recent months to slowly ease border restrictions through vaccinated travel lanes, which allow a fixed number of travelers per day to enter Singapore without quarantining as long as they’re fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid before departure and again on arrival. The proportion of those testing positive onarrival has been low, Wong said.

The next major travel lane to launch will be with neighboring Malaysia. An air lane has already been announced, and the task force members said they will elaborate on plans for the land border next week, although it’s likely to involve much fewer numbers than before the pandemic.

Bloomberg News

Editor: Angel R. Calso

US climate pledge faces test in Senate with global impact

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A SHINGTON—A fter t a l k ing t he c l imate talk at UN negotiations in Scotland, the Biden administration now tests whether a divided United States can walk the climate walk: push a massive investment for a new era of clean energy through the narrowest of margins in the Senate.

The House passed a roughly $2 trillion social policy and climate bill Friday, including $555 billion for cleaner energy, although the legislation is almost certain to be changed by the Senate. What ultimately emerges in the climate part of the bill will have a lasting impact on America and all its neighbors on Earth, and help determine whether the United States does its promised share to keep climate damage at a level not disastrously worse than it is now.

“The problem is that when you have these storms that are coming with such frequency, just as soon as you deal with one, you’re dealing with the next one,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who has struggled with five federally declared disasters in his six years leading the global oil hub on Texas’ Gulf Coast.

Turner talked on the sidelines of the UN conference in Glasgow, where he was one of dozens of mayors pushing for investment in climate. After years of storm deaths in intensifying deluges and hurricanes from the tropics, Houston residents froze to death in record numbers in a wobbling polar vortex this year.

“And so for our vulnerable communities... where people are already on the margins, it keeps getting a little bit further down,” Turner said.

In the Senate, cost-cutting demands by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin from the coal state of West Virginia and that chamber’s strict rules seem certain to force significant changes to the bill.

That would prompt fresh disputes between party centrists and moderates that will likely take weeks to resolve.

If Biden’s package passes, its impact boosting clean energy sources and technologies will mean the US likely will just miss, by 5%, Biden’s target of halving fossil fuel emissions by the end of this decade—more precisely and wonkily, of halving the amount of carbon dioxide that the US is pumping out by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.

That’s according to modeling by researchers at Princeton University and elsewhere, climate scientist and energy analyst Zeke Hausfeather explained.

But if Biden’s bill fails in Congress, the United States likely will fall shy of its emission-cutting promise by much more, by 20%, the academic modeling shows.

Market forces making renewable energy ever cheaper would help carry the United States a lot of the way regardless, Hausfeather said.

But with that broken promise behind it, it would be harder for the US “to convince countries like China and India to follow

through on their climate commitments... if we are unable to follow through on our own promises,” noted Hausfeather, a director at the Breakthrough Institute research center.

The United States over time is the world’s biggest emitter of the coal, natural gas and oil fumes that are altering the atmosphere and heating the Earth. China, with its dependence on coalfired power plants, is the biggest emitter currently, and the US is second. India, with its booming population and coal dependence, is poised to overtake both in coming decades.

At Glasgow, Bangladesh climate negotiator Quamrul Chowdhury fought, as he has for years, for the United States and other big polluters to make the fast, big cuts needed to keep his and other low-lying nations above water.

After decades of US climate policies flipping with the political parties of incoming administrations, Chowdhury was eager for Congress to seal the deal.

“In your domestic legislation, if it is enshrined, that will help,” Chowdhury said. At climate conferences, leaders “make promises, make commitments, but those are not met. Promises are made, only to be broken.”

The sharpest US climate swing of all was by the Trump administration. It pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord, slowed offshore wind projects, promoted oil and gas exploration and drilling. It canceled Obama administration projects that had aimed to promote clean energy and discourage coal.

Scores of Republican lawmakers in Congress are stepping forward now to lay claim to a middle ground on climate, between Trump and Biden, whose falling popularity is raising doubts about continued Democratic power in Washington.

In a conservative caucus founded by Republican Rep. John Curtis of Utah, the Republicans say they know how to move voters off fossil fuels and argue for a climate policy that continues use of natural gas in particular.

They emphasize trees, as well as carbon capture technology that has yet to be developed to scale, to capture climate-damag ing emissions. “ We know we must reduce em i ssions. Now let ’s h ave a thoughtful conversation about how we go about it,” Curtis said in a panel with other US lawmakers at Glasgow. “And that’s, that’s a new place, I think, for us.”

Depending on whether a next Republican administration, like Trump’s, actively opposes efforts to scale down fossil fuel use, another US retreat on climate efforts might knock the nation a few more percentage points back further on meeting Biden’s emission-cutting goal, Featherhaus said.

But “I think the larger effect... would be from the lack of global leadership on the issue, and creating the [quite justified] impression that US pledges are not to be trusted,” he said in an e-mail. AP

China downgrades relations with Lithuania in Taiwan spat

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EIJING—China on Sunday reduced its official relations with Lithuania to below ambassador level after Taiwan, the island democracy that Beijing claims as part of its own territory, was allowed to open a representative office in the Baltic nation.

Beijing earlier expelled the Lithuanian ambassador and withdrew its own envoy to the country. The foreign ministry said Sunday relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d’affaires, an embassy’s

No. 2 official.

China’s reaction underscores its sensitivity about the ruling Communist Party’s claim to Taiwan, which has been separated politica l ly from the mainland since 1949 following a civil war.

Taiwan has just 15 formal diplomatic allies, but maintains informal ties with all major nations through trade offices that act as de facto embassies, including in the Un ited St ates a nd Japa n.

AP

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Europe’s pandemic crisis pits vaccinated vs. unvaccinated

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RUSSELS —T his was supposed to be the Christmas in Europe where family and friends could once again embrace holiday festivities and one another.

Instead, the continent is the global epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic as cases soar to record levels in many countries.

With infections spiking again despite nearly two years of restrictions, the health crisis increasingly is pitting citizen against citizen—the vaccinated against the unvaccinated.

Governments desperate to shield overburdened healthcare systems are imposing rules that limit choices for the unvaccinated in the hope that doing so will drive up rates of vaccinations.

Austria on Friday went a step further, making vaccinations mandatory as of Feb. 1.

“For a long time, maybe too long, I and others thought that it must be possible to convince people in Austria, to convince them to get vaccinated voluntarily,” Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.

He called the move “our only way to break out of this vicious cycle of viral waves and lockdown discussions for good.”

While Austria so far stands alone in the European Union in making vaccinations mandatory, more and more governments are clamping down.

Starting Monday, Slovakia is banning people who haven’t been vaccinated from all nonessential stores and shopping malls. They also will not be allowed to attend any public event or gathering and will be required to test twice a week just to go to work.

“A merry Christmas does not mean a Christmas without Covid-19,” warned Prime Minister Eduard Heger. “For that to happen, Slovakia would need to have a completely different vaccination rate.”

He called the measures “a lockdown for the unvaccinated.”

Slovakia, where just 45.3% of the 5.5 million population is fully vaccinated, reported a record 8,342 new virus cases on Tuesday.

It is not only nations of central and eastern Europe that are suffering anew. Wealthy nations in the west also are being hit hard and imposing restrictions on their populations once again.

“It is really, absolutely, time to take action,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. With a vaccination rate of 67.5%, her nation is now considering mandatory vaccinations for many health professionals.

“All of Germany is one big outbreak,” Lothar Wieler, head of Germany’s disease control agency, told reporters Friday. “This is a nationwide state of emergency. We need to pull the emergency brake.”

Greece, too, is targeting the unvaccinated. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a battery of new restrictions late Thursday for the unvaccinated, keeping them out of venues including bars, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums and gyms, even if they have tested negative.

“It is an immediate act of protection and, of course, an indirect urge to be vaccinated,” Mitsotakis said.

The restrictions enrage Clare Daly, an Irish EU legislator who is

a member of the European parliament’s civil liberties and justice committee. She argues that nations are trampling individual rights.

“In a whole number of cases, member states are excluding people from their ability to go to work,” Daly said, calling Austria’s restrictions on the unvaccinated that preceded its decision Friday to impose a full lockdown “a frightening scenario.”

Even in Ireland, where 75.9 % of the population are fully vaccinated, she feels a backlash against holdouts.

“There’s almost a sort of hate speech being whipped up against the unvaccinated,” she said.

The world has had a history of mandatory vaccines in many nations for diseases such as smallpox and polio. Yet despite a global Covid-19 death toll exceeding 5 million, despite overwhelming medical evidence that vaccines highly protect against death or serious illness from Covid-19 and slow the pandemic’s spread, opposition to vaccinations remains stubbornly strong among parts of the population.

Some 10,000 people, chanting “freedom, freedom,” gathered in Prague this week to protest Czech government restrictions imposed on the unvaccinated.

“No single individual freedom is absolute,” countered Professor Paul De Grauwe of the London School of Economics. “The freedom not to be vaccinated needs to be limited to guarantee the freedom of others to enjoy good health,” he wrote for the liberal think tank Liberales.

That principle is now turning friends away from each other and splitting families across European nations.

Birgitte Schoenmakers, a general practitioner and professor at Leuven University, sees it on an almost daily basis.

“It has turned into a battle between the people,” she said.

She sees pol it ica l conf l icts whipped up by people willfully spreading conspiracy theories, but also intensely human stories. One of her patients has been locked out of the home of her parents because she dreads being vaccinated.

Schoemakers said that while authorities had long balked at the idea of mandatory vaccinations, the highly infectious Delta variant is changing minds.

“To make a U-turn on this is incredibly difficult,” she said.

Spiking infections and measures to rein them in are combining to usher in a second straight grim holiday season in Europe.

Leuven has already canceled its Christmas market, while in nearby Brussels a 60-foot Christmas tree was placed in the center of the city’s stunning Grand Place on Thursday but a decision on whether the Belgian capital’s festive market can go ahead will depend on the development of the virus surge.

Paul Vierendeels, who donated the tree, hopes for a return to a semblance of a traditional Christmas.

“We are glad to see they are making the effort to put up the tree, decorate it. It is a start,” he said.

“After almost two difficult years, I think it is a good thing that some things, more normal in life, are taking place again.” AP

Russia hits record coronavirus deaths for second straight day

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OSCOW—Russia’s record high coronavirus death toll persisted for a second straight day on Saturday, as the number of new infections declined.

The state coronavirus task force reported 1,254 Covid-19 deaths, matching Friday’s tally.

The task force also reported 37,120 new confirmed cases. The daily new infections in recent weeks appear to have a downward trend but still remain higher than during previous surges of the virus.

The latest surge in deaths comes amid low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes in Russia toward taking precautions. About 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved a domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine—Sputnik V—months before

most of the world.

In total, Russia’s coronavirus task force has reported nearly 9.3 million confirmed infections and 262,843 Covid-19 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe.

Some experts believe the true figure is even higher. Reports by Russia’s statistical service, Rosstat, that tally coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively reveal much higher mortality. They say 462,000 people with Covid-19 died between April 2020 and September of this year.

Russian officials have said the task force only includes deaths for which Covid-19 was the main cause, and uses data from medical facilities. Rosstat uses wider criteria for counting virus-related deaths and takes its numbers from civil registry offices where registering a death is finalized. AP

Monday, November 22, 2021 A7

Protests erupt over Covid-19 rules in Austria, Italy, Croatia

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IENNA—Tens of thousands of protesters, many from farright groups, marched through Vienna on Saturday after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown beginning Monday to contain skyrocketing coronavirus infections.

Demonstrations against virus restrictions also took place in Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands on Saturday, a day after Dutch police opened fire on protesters and seven people were injured in rioting that erupted in Rotterdam.

Protesters rallied against coronavirus restrictions and mandatory Covid-19 passes needed in many European countries to enter restaurants, Christmas markets or sports events, as well as mandatory vaccinations.

The Austrian lockdown will start Monday and comes as average daily deaths have tripled in recent weeks and hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that intensive care units are reaching capacity.

The lockdown will last at least 10 days but could go up to 20, officials said. People will be able to leave their homes only for specific reasons, including buying groceries, going to the doctor or exercising.

The government also will make vaccinations mandatory starting Feb. 1. Not quite 66% of Austria’s 8.9 million people are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.

Saturday’s march started off at Vienna’s massive Heldenplatz square. Chanting “Resistance!” and blowing whistles, protesters moved down the city’s inner ring road. Many waved Austrian flags and carried signs mocking Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg and Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein. Some wore doctor’s scrubs; others donned tinfoil hats. Most signs focused on the vaccine mandate: “My Body, My Choice,” read one. “We’re Standing Up for Our Kids!” said another.

Among those protesting were members of far-right and extremeright parties and groups, including the far-right Freedom Party, the anti-vaccine MFG party and the extreme-right Identitarians.

About 1,300 police officers were on duty, and 35,000 protesters participated in different marches across the city, police said. Police said several protesters were detained, but didn’t give specific numbers. Later Saturday night, protesters threw bottles and beer cans and fired pyrotechnics at police, who then used pepper spray to disperse the crowds.

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, appeared via video, denouncing what he called “totalitarian” measures from a government “that believes it should think and decide for us.”

Schallenberg apologized to all vaccinated people on Friday, saying it wasn’t fair they had to suffer under the renewed lockdown restrictions.

“I’m sorry to take this drastic step,” he said on public broadcaster ORF. In neighboring Switzerland, 2,000 people protested an upcoming referendum on whether to approve the government’s Covid-19 restrictions law, claiming it was discriminatory, public broadcaster SRF reported.

A day after the Rotterdam rioting, thousands gathered on Amsterdam’s central Dam Square, despite organizers calling off the protest. They walked peacefully through the streets, closely monitored by police.

“This policy [anti coronavirus measures] makes a lot of con-

Hundreds of people take part in a demonstration against the country’s coronavirus restrictions in Vienna, Austria on Saturday, Nov.20, 2021. Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Vienna after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the quickly rising coronavirus infections in the country. AP Photo/Lisa Leutner

flicts between the people,” Hugo Gietelink from Amsterdam told The Associated Press. “I think it is very important that the vaccinated and non-vaccinated have to make a friendship again.”

A few hundred people a lso marched through the southern Dutch city of Breda. One organizer, Joost Eras, told broadcaster NOS he didn’t expect violence after consulting with police.

“We certainly don’t support what happened in Rotterdam. We were shocked by it,” he said.

In Italy, 3,000 turned out in the capital’s Circus Maximus, a field where in ancient times Romans staged popular entertainment, to protest against “Green Pass” certificates required at workplaces, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, sports venues and gyms, as well as for long-distance train, bus or ferry travel.

“People like us never give up,” read one banner, in the red, white and green colors of the Italian flag. Almost no one wore a protective mask.

In Northern Ireland, several hundred people opposed to vaccine passports protested outside the city hall in Belfast, where the city’s Christmas market opened Saturday—a market where proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test was required.

The Northern Ireland government voted this week to introduce vaccine certificates for admission to nightclubs, bars and restaurants starting Dec. 13.

Some protesters carried signs that have been widely criticized as offensive, comparing coronavirus restrictions to the actions of Nazi Germany.

In Croatia, thousands gathered in the capital of Zagreb, carrying f lags, nationalist and religious sy mbols, a long w it h ba nners against vaccination and what they describe as restrictions of people’s freedoms.

In France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin condemned violent protests in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, one of France’s overseas territories. Darmanin said 29 people had been detained by police overnight. Authorities were sending 200 more police officers to the island and on Tuesday will impose a nightly curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Protesters in Guadeloupe have staged road blockades and set cars on fire. They denounce France’s Covid-19 health pass that is required to access restaurants and cafes, cultural venues, sport arenas and long-distance travel. They are also protesting France’s mandatory vaccinations for health care workers. AP

Top US diplomat warns Russian group not to interfere in Mali Czech Republic

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AKAR, Senegal—US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned a shadowy Russian company with connections to the Kremlin not to interfere in efforts aimed at restoring democracy in the West African nation of Mali.

As he wrapped up a weeklong, three-nation tour of Africa that was dominated by crises across the continent, Blinken said it would be “unfortunate” if the Wagner Group became active in Mali, where there are internationally backed plans to have a democratically elected government in place by April.

Mali “remains a linchpin for future stability in the Sahel and we have deep concerns about that stability and deep concerns about the extremism and terrorism that is spreading tentacles in the region,” Blinken said at news conference with Senegal’s foreign minister, Aissata Tall Sall. West Africa’s Sahel region is the vast area south of the Sahara Desert where extremist groups are fighting for control.

“It would be especially unfortunate if outside actors engage in making things even more difficult and more complicated,” he said. Blinken said he was speaking particularly of the Wagner Group, which has deployed mercenaries to Syria, the Central African Republic and Libya, drawing protests from the West and others.

The Wagner Group, owned by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused by Western governments and U.N. experts of human rights abuses in the Central

African Republic and involvement in the conflict in Libya.

France and Germany have objected to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Mali, and the European Union said this past week that it would consider sanctions against anyone interfering in Mali’s democratic transition.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the company has a “legitimate” right to be in Mali because it was invited by the transitional government, and he has insisted the Russian government is not involved.

Blinken, who has also been pressing while in Africa for an end to crises in Ethiopia and Sudan, said the United States was ready to restore aid to Mali that was suspended after a military coup.

“This is ultimately about the people of Mali and their aspirations for peace, their aspirations for development and respect for human rights,” he said. “We look forward to taking the next steps to resume the full array of assistance as soon as the democratically elected government has taken office.”

Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.

In June, Col. Assimi Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government after carrying out his second coup in nine months. Mali faces increasing international isola-

tion over the junta’s power grab. Elections are due to be held in February, but the EU fears they will be delayed.

In Dakar, Blinken was pushing American-built infrastructure projects, including an initiative to produce Covid-19 vaccines in Senegal, a first for Africa. He also promoted sustainable development, women’s empowerment and other human rights initiatives to bolster faltering democracies.

In meetings with female entrepreneurs and executives from US-based multinational companies, Blinken extolled the benefits of boosting women’s roles in economies and of buying American. In a jab at China, with which the US competes for lucrative business, he noted that America invests “without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle.”

“The effects are going to be felt inside of Senegal, improving infrastructure, creating jobs and reinforcing public safety and climate resilience,” he said as he witnessed the signing of four road, traffic management and other deals between Senegal and US firms worth about $1 billion.

The investment, he said, shows “our shared values of democracy, transparency and rule of law as well as innovation.”

In less than two weeks Senegal will host a major China-Africa trade and investment forum, underscoring Beijing’s interest in increasing the scope of its influence on the continent. US-China competition in Africa has been a major underlying theme of Blinken’s trip, although he has tried to downplay it. AP

posts new record in Covid infections

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R AGUE—Coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic hit a new record for the second time this week, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

It announced that the daily tally jumped to 22,936 on Friday, almost 500 more than the previous record set on Tuesday.

The country’s infection rate has risen to 929 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.

In a worrying sign, 110 people died on Thursday, the ministry said, with the daily death toll surpassing 100 for the first time since April.

The government has approved new restrictions to tackle the surge, targeting the unvaccinated in an effort to increase a vaccination rate that is below the European Union average.

Starting Monday, most unvaccinated people will no longer be allowed to show negative coronavirus tests in order to attend public events, go to bars and restaurants, visit hairdressers, museums and similar facilities or use hotels.

Only people who are vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 will remain eligible.

Overall, the nation of 10.7 million has registered almost 2 million cases with 32,005 deaths. AP

A8

Monday, November 22, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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editorial

US defends Philippines against China’s hostility

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panel of global security experts concluded in 2019 that the rapid expansion of China’s Coast Guard gives Beijing the means to shift its sea expansion aims from aspirational to operational.

In an article published by the US Naval Institute—China’s Coast Guard Enforcing Its Blue Water Territorial Expansion—John Grady quoted Greg Poling, director of CSIS’ Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, who said: “The Chinese have transitioned from turning coral reefs into islands to having them become effectively homeports for Chinese Coast Guard vessels and forward landing bases for maritime patrol aircraft. They have also installed sophisticated mobile air and maritime defense systems as well as jamming equipment on them.”

In addition to a permanent coast guard and air presence, “300 naval militia vessels are operating every day in the South China Sea,” Poling said. “They use manmade islands as home ports to send ships out to contest Vietnam’s claims to sea beds holding energy resources and minerals and contest Philippine fishing rights to work waters in its economic zone. The objective in all this activity is to make it politically risky for civilians to operate in their own Economic Zones,” he added.

China’s disagreeable activities in the South China Sea include bullying Vietnam and Malaysia over ocean drilling, and ramming Philippine fishing vessels near the Scarborough Shoal.

On Tuesday, November 16, Chinese Coast Guard vessels attacked two civilian ships chartered to bring food supply to Filipino soldiers in Ayungin Shoal in West Philippines. The two civilian boats, Unaiza Mae 1 and Unaiza Mae 3, were in the shoal for a resupply mission for soldiers guarding the shoal when the two Chinese ships attacked them with water cannons lasting for at least an hour, according to Philippine National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. The soldiers have been guarding the Second Thomas Shoal located 105 nautical miles southwest of Palawan aboard the partly sunken ship BRP Sierra Madre, which the Philippines is using as a military outpost.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. protested the attack and expressed the country’s “outrage, condemnation and protest” and demanded the Chinese ships to “back off.” He said the boats were “public vessels” covered by the 1951 Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

The United States called China’s action a threat to peace and security in the region and an affront to international maritime norms, as it reminded Beijing of the existing US defense treaty with the Philippines. The US State Department said: “The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of this escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability, escalates regional tensions, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law, and undermines the rules-based international order.” (Read, US warns China vs threat to peace in SCS after Ayungin Shoal attack, in the BusinessMirror, November 20, 2021).

Despite the strong protest made by Secretary Locsin, Beijing accused the Philippine boats of “trespassing”. A statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed the attack, which it defended as it insisted China’s sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal.

Secretary Locsin said he respects China’s right to say whatever it wants to say.

But he drew the line when Chinese Coast Guard used water cannon on the Philippine boats. “It’s a free world; we can both claim and say whatever we want. It is what we do that matters. It all turns on the water cannon,” he said.

The US told China that it has no legal rights over the shoal as had been declared by the July 12, 2016 ruling of the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal which was constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. The ruling, an offshoot of the case brought by the Philippines to challenge China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea, rejected Beijing claims to Second Thomas Shoal and to waters determined to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“The People’s Republic of China should not interfere with lawful Philippine activities in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” the US said.

China is a member of many international organizations, holding key positions such as a permanent membership on UN Security Council. It should promote rulebased international order in the South China Sea. Unfortunately, recent developments in the contested waters show that the Chinese government has no scruples.

They have no respect for international law or international borders. China is showing the world it has no intention to change its image as a regional bully because of its sweeping claims of sovereignty over the whole South China Sea—and its estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

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Rushing into Christmas Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

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ow that it’s almost December, the Christmas month, people have started to populate the malls again, bringing even small children with them because restrictions have been lifted. Authorities are quick to advise that young children are better off left at home, for their own safety.

Face shields are no longer a requirement in many spaces, but this does not mean we should let our guard down. There are many people who still choose to wear them whenever they are exposed to other people.

I think that’s wise, along with keeping our physical distance, washing our hands, and wearing masks— even if we’re already vaccinated.

If you have gone out lately, you’d notice that the roads in many areas are clogged again, like how they usually are during the Christmas rush.

Thomas M. Orbos

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try that have high vaccination rates, or have even reached the target number of vaccinations to achieve herd immunity. But for areas that have low vaccination rates, the campaign needs to be strengthened so that the rest of the nation can also be on its way to economic recovery.

If you must get together with friends or family, parks and green open spaces are a great idea. For Que-

The great transport divide in our land

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

Parking lots, malls, and restaurants are again crowded and people move about like things are back to normal.

Well, they’re not. Let’s be thankful, but not complacent, that the numbers are going down.

In Europe, many places are experiencing a surge. While we are definitely in a better place as far as Covid-19 cases are concerned, let the situation in other places be a reminder that the virus is very much still around.

There are some parts of the coun-

Finally, you’d be better off picking up some of the holiday gifts and treats on your list from online stores or e-commerce platforms.

I urge you to support local artists, including authors, painters, craftsmen, etc. by buying their creations. Local publishers also offer promos online—our local book industry needs all the support it can get, so check them out because books make excellent Christmas gifts. Buy Filipino, support local business, support local authors and artists!

T

here exists in our country a great divide in transportation that is of course very much reflective of the gap between the rich and the poor in our society. It is there, regardless of the many roads and bridges built, the rails expanded and airports modernized. Such gap needs to be pointed out for our policy-makers to begin doing steps to close it. So far, the gap is getting wider, and it may tear our society apart unless the government does something real and immediate to solve it.

Just take a look at any road corridor, like Edsa. Of its five lanes, three are allotted for private vehicles, while only one lane is allocated for mass transport. The half of the remaining lane is the pandemic-created bike lane, and the remaining half is undeclared for motorcycles. This therefore equates to 60 percent of road occupancy allocated to what is supposed to be just 20 percent of those traversing Edsa. More worrisome is the fact that 60 percent of our public transport commuters are cramped into those two remaining lanes.

And then, while we, who are in our private cars, complain about traffic, road conditions and limiting regulations such as the number coding

schemes, majority of the riding public have to contend with the narrow, if non-existent sidewalks. They have to compete with sidewalk vendors to go to makeshift terminals for their tricycle and jeepney rides. Then the commuters are exposed to the elements, not to mention the fumes from our private vehicles. And while we line up impatiently to secure our parking space entering the malls, our commuting public have to wait in line nearby, without much protest whether the ride they get are legal or colorum vehicles, therefore with not much protection when they unfortunately meet an accident.

The riding experience of majority of our commuters has more or less been the same for the past several

It is said that a country has reached its full development when mass transport is not just democratized, but convenient, affordable and comfortable enough to be utilized across the whole spectrum of society. Our state of public transport is far from such an ideal.

generations. Cramped like sardines even during the pandemic, it is the same experience for the commuters availing themselves of the available modes of public transport— whether it be buses, trains, jeepneys or tricycles. Personal comfort and privacy is set aside, just to make sure one gets to his destination.

Predictability of trips is not even being discussed, and accommodations for people with disabilities are nonexistent. Worse, in some areas in the Philippines where there are wide and newly paved roads but no public transport available, commuters have no choice but to ride the “habal-habal” and the “skylabs,” or motorcycle with outstretched wooden planks that allow seating capacity for seven to eight persons.

It is said that a country has reached its full development when mass transport is not just democratized, but convenient, affordable and comfortable enough to be utilized across the whole spectrum of

zon City residents, you’d be happy to know that the UP Oval is now open again from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. It’s a wonderful place for picnics, biking, jogging, or walking.

If you fancy a trip out of town, go for nature parks like the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal province. You can bring friends or the whole family on a hike through the rainforest.

If you have young children or older people who can’t do the hikes, there is the Garden Picnic option at just P1,500 per head. Visit their web site for more information.

Finally, you’d be better off picking up some of the holiday gifts and treats on your list from online stores or e-commerce platforms. I urge you to support local artists, including authors, painters, craftsmen, etc. by buying their creations. Local publishers also offer promos online—our local book industry needs all the support it can get, so check them out because books make excellent Christmas gifts. Buy Filipino, support local business, support local authors and artists!

society. Our state of public transport is far from such an ideal. And this is not a matter of time but a matter of political will. Yes, there had been improvements here and there for the past several administrations, and the quest for modern transport and mobility has been more pronounced in these recent actions of the government, but there is much work to be done.

We can only look forward with fervent hope to the new leaders of the land this coming 2022, with the hope that they will have that political will to make it happen. But that can only succeed if our leaders of tomorrow will get out of their private cars and experience how it is that every Juan traverses the transport challenges every day. Better yet for us if we will have a leader who, by force of past circumstance, had taken public transport in its rudest and cruelest form. That leader who experienced how the majority commutes will make that difference, rather than one who has not lined up for anything in life and has not sweated it out in a bus or a jeep ride that most of the people he/she commits to serve, are forced to take everyday. When we have a leader with insight and empathy, will we have a better chance of narrowing that great transport divide that pervades in our country.

The author can be reached via: thomas_orbos@ sloan.mit.edu

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

US seeks balance as fears grow Professor Guilt Russia may invade Ukraine

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By Nomaan Merchant | Associated Press

ASHINGTON—The buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine has left US officials perplexed, muddying the Biden administration’s response.

Some Republican lawmakers have been pressing the US to step up military support for Ukraine. But that risks turning what may be mere muscle-flexing by Russian President Vladimir Putin into a full-blown confrontation that only adds to the peril for Ukraine and could trigger an energy crisis in Europe.

But a weak US response carries its own risks. It could embolden Putin to take more aggressive steps against Ukraine as fears grow he could try to seize more of its territory. And it could cause more political damage for President Joe Biden at a time his popularity is dropping.

Knowing how to strike the right balance would be easier if the US had a better understanding of what Putin was trying to accomplish. But top officials admit they don’t know.

“We’re not sure exactly what Mr. Putin is up to,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. A week earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We don’t have clarity into Moscow’s intentions, but we do know its playbook.”

Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee, said better understanding Putin’s intentions was critical “to avoid the mistakes that have started great wars.”

Any US response must be calibrated to avoid being “an appeaser or a provocateur,” he said.

“This is a tough, tough area to try to gain information,” he said. “It’s a challenge that’s as tough or tougher than it’s ever been. It has a pretty serious impact on our ability to make the correct decisions.”

Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and an ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv and Russian-backed rebels in the region known as Donbas has left an estimated 14,000 dead. Now, Ukraine says an estimated 90,000 Russian troops have massed near the border.

The buildup could be a prelude to another Russian invasion. Speaking to Ukraine’s foreign minister this month, Blinken said Putin’s “playbook” was for Russia to build up forces near the border and then invade, “claiming falsely that it was provoked.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that the alliance is seeing an “unusual concentration” of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border, warning that the same type of forces was used by Moscow in the past to intervene in neighboring countries.

Though US officials don’t believe an invasion is imminent, Putin also has ramped up his dismissal of an independent Ukraine. A lengthy essay the Kremlin published in July asserts that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” and the “true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.”

But the moves could also be saber-rattling to prevent Ukraine from growing closer to the West or being admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Putin strongly opposes. It’s not clear if Russia would risk invading Ukraine, setting off a far more difficult war, or want to occupy hostile territory.

A similar Russian military buildup in the spring did not lead to an invasion, though lawmakers and officials say they are more concerned now, citing US intelligence that has not been made public.

Russia denies it has aggressive motives, insisting it is responding to increased NATO activity near its borders and the strengthening of Ukraine’s military.

Speaking on Thursday, Putin said, “It should be taken into consideration that Western partners are exacerbating the situation by supplying lethal

modern arms to Kyiv and carrying out provocative military maneuvers in the Black Sea—and not only in the Black Sea but also in other regions close to our borders.”

The US has sent ships into the Black Sea as part of Nato activity alongside Ukraine and in recent weeks has delivered military equipment as part of a $60 million package announced in September.

Since 2014, the US has committed to spending more than $2.5 billion to help Ukraine strengthen its defense.

The White House said it hopes to de-escalate tensions. “As we have made clear in the past, escalatory or aggressive actions by Russia would be of great concern to the United States,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement.

There has been a flurry of diplomacy in recent weeks. US leaders have met with their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, including a visit by CIA Director William Burns to Moscow during which he spoke to Putin by phone. Germany and France have issued a joint statement affirming support for Ukraine.

Ultimately, the US has few good apparent options to stop Putin were he to press forward.

The Biden administration in April imposed new sanctions on Russia for what it said was Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict as well as allegations that it has abetted cyberattacks on US infrastructure and interference in American elections.

Imposing more sanctions is unlikely to influence Putin’s behavior, lawmakers and experts said. The Biden administration in May did waive sanctions related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry Russian natural gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

A group of Republican lawmakers this month called on the US to provide more lethal aid to Ukraine’s military, ramp up intelligence sharing, or deploy a larger presence of its own to the Black Sea. But Russia could quickly counter with more forces.

And Putin could respond to any Western action by limiting energy exports to Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas.

“The traditional tools that nationstates use to govern behavior of other nation-states are not available,” said Douglas Wise, a former deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. “The Russians have very little at risk.”

Writing for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, two analysts said Putin may want to send a message to Washington that it must treat Russia “as a major power that cannot be marginalized on the US agenda.” But the analysts also described Ukraine as Putin’s “unfinished business.”

“That piece of unfinished business is the restoration of Russia’s dominion over key parts of its historic empire,” Eugene Rumer and Andrew Weiss wrote. “No item on that agenda is more important—or more pivotal—than the return of Ukraine to the fold.”

Trying to seize more of Ukraine— or even pushing to Kyiv—would be much tougher than taking Crimea or parts of eastern Ukraine, said Paul Kolbe, a former CIA officer who leads the Intelligence Project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center.

Putin can achieve many of his objectives without an invasion, Kolbe said, by putting pressure on Ukraine and Nato and driving a wedge between allies about how to respond.

“It’s fitting in with a larger pattern of ensuring from their perception that they don’t face threats on their close borders,” he said. Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

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any a criminal has eventually turned himself over to authorities because the shameful indictment of guilt can actually be worse than prison bars. Apparently, it is that sense of culpability that leads a man to the path of repentance. Guilt is associated with conscience.

Guilt ticks the pendulum for the clock of right and wrong. Psychoanalyst and doctor Helen B. Lewis of Yale University described guilt as one of the cements that binds human beings together and even propounded: “If it occurs to you that you’ve done something to injure someone else, guilt compels you to do something to fix it, to repair the bond.” If we consider guilt as an emotion more than a behavioral condition, guilt should be constructive rather than injurious. However which way we identify guilt though, it remains a resounding fact that more and more people are stricken less with a sense of guilt more willingly than with insensitivity. This probably explains why some people can readily and conveniently lie so glibly or disparage another human being sans proof or testimony. All these generate not only a substantial damage from one individual to the next, but they cause disintegration in any relationship.

Nowadays our eyes and ears lay witness to such an absence of culpability from politicians and electoral aspirants. It becomes so revolting whenever our leaders, supposedly exemplars of good behavior, manifest such lack of culpability with reckless disregard for genuine public service, as in the case of our President. Long has it been his public sentiment that he never wished for his daughter to run for the presidency. In countless interviews, he stated that if he were to be asked, he didn’t want Davao City Mayor (now presidentiable) Sara Duterte-Carpio to seek that national post. As things unfolded in light of a string of Senate controversies and the hotly-contested presidential seat, President Duterte disclosed

that his daughter should have filed her COC for president instead of playing running-mate only to presidentiable Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.—revealing a hidden agenda satiated with lust for continuing grip on power within the family, if not his inner circle. His recent statement anent a presidential aspirant taking cocaine is riddled with such a mystery that any unmindful Juan dela Cruz will likely be convinced, simply because said pronouncement came from a head of state. To be accorded weight and legitimacy, President Duterte should have run after this personality much earlier, considering his much-hyped war on drugs!

Ordinary Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea are threatened within our very own maritime waters only because the our President has demonstrated that we are “beholden” to China, despite his 2016 hyperbolic promise of a jet ski trip to those contested waters. During his administration, our President has deceived and continued to deceive the people with his assertions and actuations, as if possessed with no sense of guilt at all. He has resorted to publicly shaming senators (De Lima, Lacson and Gordon) and most recently presidential candidates (Robredo, Moreno and Marcos).

Exposing my own frailty, I am as equally guilty, but not on the matter of deceit. I am as guilty for not having the guilty conscience, in my previous professional relationships, as I have pointlessly lost my temper over inadequacies at work. I have berated subordinates, sometimes even senselessly, owing to their incompetence while not looking at my own weaknesses. At the onset of my

Monday, November 22, 2021

While we are enrolled in Professor Guilt’s subject, we should stay attentive to the lesson and not “cut classes”. Classroom sessions are held indefinitely until final grades are known on judgment day. teaching career, I have unwittingly shamed some of my students, whenever they come to class unprepared.

Guilt should have compelled me to prevent the damage or injury from happening. Fortunately, I was overwhelmed over time and was given the opportunity to fix the wrong and strengthen ethical ties altogether.

Rational guilt, they say.

Dr. Philip Bobrove, a Philadelphia psychologist sees value in this kind of “rational guilt” in people who appear to be entirely without guilt, without concern for others, without remorse for pain inflicted”. When people feel guilt after inflicting harm, they tend to clean their conscience by way of an apology.

Professor Guilt must have beaten himself up to the point of physical harm if only to impress upon his students that to have a guilty conscience cleansed plays a far better role in saving relationships and building the trust of others. A sense of guilt should compel any person to apologize for the harm committed by a family member, at the very least, especially if said injury has been well documented in the bins of history. A sense of guilt ought to keep a presidential aspirant away from trouble by admitting in his certificate of candidacy that yes, he has been convicted of a crime involving a penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office. Thus, too, a sense of culpability implores a debtor to evade from making fraudulent misrepresentations in his loan application.

Much as it is admirable for a guilty conscience to be cleansed and the person be free from its accusations, it is “not the cleansing of the conscience that saves you.” I recently learned that faith in Christ does the saving and a cleansed conscience is merely the result of having an intimate relationship with God. While faith alone saves us from our transgressions, there must be a manifestation of our faith through our actions. In the

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Bible, James 2:17 tells us, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” American evangelist Billy Graham once said that Christ is the one who cleanses the conscience for if “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrew 9: 13-14).

Without the workings of genuine faith, crafted only from a personal relationship with Jesus, guilt will always come knocking on our doors to accuse us. While there is such a thing as constructive guilt, or good guilt, and sometimes rational guilt, only by fully surrendering to Christ can bring about godly living! Realizing that He is in total control of our lives will keep us away from things and situations that can make us feel guilty.

A humbling lesson I eventually learned is for me not to wait for Professor Guilt to brandish His rod of discipline whenever I do things to others not premised on love. When I am reminded of the wrong committed or the harm done, there should be less guilt and more repentance! One of my biggest frustration probably rests in the reality that most of us must have gone out of the Professor Guilt’s “classroom” and took a negligible amount of conscience. While we are enrolled in Professor Guilt’s subject, we should stay attentive to the lesson and not “cut classes”.

Classroom sessions are held indefinitely until final grades are known on judgment day.

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Rittenhouse verdict puts Biden in difficult political spot

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By Aamer Madhani | Associated Press

ILMINGTON, Del.—A difficult political atmosphere for President Joe Biden may have become even more treacherous with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Biden was already facing sliding poll numbers with an electorate worn down by the coronavirus pandemic and increasing inflation. Now, the president finds himself caught between outraged Democrats—some of whom were already stewing over Biden’s inability to land police reform and voting rights legislation—and Republicans looking to use the Rittenhouse case to exploit the national divide over matters of grievance and race. “This is one of the last things Biden wants to be engaging in at this moment as he tries to finish up the big Build Back Better bill and get that across the finish line through the Senate,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. “Race and Kyle Rittenhouse is not the space where he wants or needs to be going deep right now.”

The acquittal of Rittenhouse has touched off new conversations about racial justice, vigilantism and policing in America. The Illinois teen armed himself with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle during an August 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, days after the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer.

He said he came to small city to help protect a car lot from vandals and provide medical aid.

Rittenhouse would end up fatally shooting two men and maiming a third. Rittenhouse and his lawyers successfully argued that he had acted

in self-defense during a confrontation in which he feared for his life.

The verdict in the case comes at a moment when Biden is trying to keep fellow Democrats focused on passing his massive social services and climate bill and hoping to turn the tide with Americans who have soured on his performance as president.

The president responded carefully following Friday’s verdict, expressing respect for the jury’s decision. He later added in a written statement that, like many Americans, he was “angry and concerned” with the jury acquittal of Rittenhouse.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who had success in this month’s Virginia election in part by accusing Democrats of promoting critical race theory in public schools, are embracing 18-yearold Rittenhouse as their newest hero in America’s culture wars.

GOP Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Matt Gaetz of Florida have said they’d like to hire him as an intern, with Gosar suggesting they arm wrestle for the honor. Another Republican, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, on Saturday predicted that liberal outrage over the Rittenhouse trial would benefit her party.

“It seems liberals want self-defense to be illegal,” Boebert tweeted.

“Try running on that in 2022 and see how far it gets you with the majority of the sane American public.”

Former President Donald Trump was quick to stand with Rittenhouse

following the verdict. He called the teen “brave” for testifying in his own defense and accused the left of trying “to fan hatred” with its treatment of Rittenhouse. Trump has spent much of his post-presidency stoking divisions with his frontal criticism of Biden and of any Republican who has not marched in lockstep with his views. And most Republicans, either through silence or direct endorsement, have followed his lead.

In the aftermath of the acquittal, Republicans have highlighted a tweet

by Biden during his winning 2020 presidential campaign in which he appeared to suggest that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist.

The tweet, from September 2020, excoriated Trump for failing “to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage” the previous night and included a video that contained a still image of Rittenhouse from the night of the Kenosha shooting and footage of torch-bearing white supremacists at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel are among party officials who have called on Biden to apologize.

“He smeared a teenager to score political points and spread lies about this case,” McDaniel wrote on Twitter. “What Biden did was dangerous and inflammatory.”

Asked by a reporter soon after the verdict if he stood by his campaign social media posting, Biden responded that “I stand by what the jury has concluded.”

Borick, the Muhlenberg College pollster, said the results of this month’s elections in Virginia show

that driving at cultural issues— including race and transgender rights—could be a good strategy for Republicans trying to energize a segment of the electorate that was passionate about Trump but less enthusiastic about the rest of the GOP. But Borick warned that the GOP’s fulsome embrace of Rittenhouse wasn’t without risk.

“I don’t know if it’s a great place to be if you’re trying, come the midterms, to reach suburban voters and educated voters who might not fault the decision to acquit Rittenhouse because of the circumstances but are far from comfortable holding him up as a hero,” Borick said.

Even before the verdict, Biden had been facing increased pressure from some Democrats over the lack of progress on passing voting rights and police reform legislation.

Last month, a day after Senate Republicans filibustered a major voting bill for the second time this year, Biden acknowledged that the process of governing could be “frustrating and sometimes dispiriting” but urged supporters to “keep the faith.”

At the same time, civil rights leaders have expressed frustration that Biden has not used the power of the bully pulpit more to push for a broad police reform bill named after George Floyd, the Black Minneapolis man whose killing last year by police touched off protests around the US. Speaking at an event earlier this week where he signed into law a trio of bills to increase aid to police, Biden only made passing mention of the George Floyd act, asking legislators from both parties to work together to make it law.

“That’s next,” Biden said.

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300 Chinese fishing militia boats in WPS–think tank

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By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

S many as 300 boats loaded with Chinese commercial vessel fishermen disguised as paramilitary forces and whose operations are heavily subsidized by the Chinese government are now operating in the West Philippine Sea on any given day, a report by two US-based think tanks said.

A report published last week by the Center for Strategic & International Studies-Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (CSISAMTI) and Center for Advanced Defense Studies said the presence of Chinese militias in the South China Sea “is no secret” but lately, their numbers have gone up and are “on a more constant basis than ever before.”

Gregory Poling, a fellow of CSIS-AMTI, cited a lot of anecdotal evidence of the presence of Chinese militias in the South China Sea beginning 1974, when

China took control of some islands occupied by the Vietnamese forces in the Paracel archipelago. They also played a key role in China’s seizure of Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012, as well as the deployment of a Chinese oil rig into Vietnamese waters.

“What we discovered over the course of this research though is there’s clearly been an effort to professionalize and build out the militia over the last eight years coinciding with [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s elevation to power,” Poling said in a virtual briefing

uploaded by CSI over their YouTube channel.

It noted that China has shifted its focus “toward asserting control over peacetime activity across the South China Sea” after it completed constructing artificial island outposts in 2016. However, these “peacetime activities” border on the “gray zone” by expanding their maritime militias.

From providing logistic support to Chinese artificial island building in the harbors of Zamora and Panganiban Reef in 2017, militias were dispersed to other islands but largely concentrated to Philippineheld or Philippine-claimed islands in the West Philippine Sea. In 2018, 100 militia boats were deployed near Pag-Asa Island, the biggest island occupied by the Philippines with almost 200 civilian residents. Earlier this year, around 200 militia boats also gathered at unoccupied Julian Felipe Feef (international name: Whitsun Reef).

Militia deployment also increased in Philippine-claimed McKennan Reef and Burgos Reef. In 1998 China occupied McKennan and Burgos reefs, reclaimed as artificial islands and built with military

supply platform and anti-aircraft weapons.

More Chinese militias were also deployed to oil and gas fields in areas occupied by Malaysian and Vietnamese forces.

CSIS-AMTI and CADS researchers found that these militias belong to the modern type of Chinese maritime militias—the Spratly Backbone Fishing Vessels (SBFV) —owned by commercial fishing companies with steel-hulled civilian fishing boats, with lengths of as much as 55 meters and engine power of at least 1,200 kW. “Their operations are funded by the Chinese government through subsidies that incentivize local actors to construct vessels in accordance with military specifications and to operate them in disputed waters, ready to assist Chinese law enforcement and naval forces when necessary,” the report stated.

The subsidy amount? Around US$3,743 per day (P187,150) as “special fuel subsidies.”

The fuel subsidy is just to be “deployed to disputed waters without fishing at all.”

BBM-SARA UNITEAM MOUNTS UNITY CARAVANS IN 45 AREAS

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RESIDENTIAL aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his adopted running mate Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio faced their supporters together for the first time since November 11 when they attended a wedding together.

This, as the Partido Federal and the BBM-Sara Uniteam supporters mounted a series of caravans, which was attended by Bongbong and Sara in Davao Del Norte, the first since they separately announced their candidacy.

The BBM-Sara Uniteam supporters on Sunday displayed their initial strength by staging what they described as the caravans for peace, unity and progress.

The simultaneous BBM-Sara Uniteam cavalcade started at 8

a.m. in more than 30 cities and 15 provinces in Mindanao, Bicol Region, Calabarzon, Abra, certain provinces in Northern Luzon and Metro Manila.

Both aspirants faced supporters in Carmen and Tagum City, with the numbers swelling to more than 10,000 participants, practically turning the streets into a sea of red and green.

For the first time, the tandem addressed their supporters together and thanked them “for their support in our effort to rise again.” “We will rise again,” Marcos told the crowd.

“Let us protect our candidates, let us protect our President, and let us protect BBM,” Duterte-Carpio told supporters while calling for unity.

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Quiboloy could still be extradited despite local case—Guevarra

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

&Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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USTICE Secretar y Menardo Guevarra said on Sunday that Pastor Apollo Carreon Quiboloy could still be extradited to the United States (US) despite the pendency of the appeal filed before his office in connection with the dismissal of criminal charges in a local case.

That case is for rape, child abuse, ill treatment, trafficking in persons through forced labor, and trafficking in persons through sexual abuse filed against him before the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office by a female complainant.

However, Guevarra indicated that the implementation of the RP-US Extradition Treaty on a person is a long process and would involve court litigation.

“The pendency of the appeal before the OSEC [Office of the Secretary] is not an obstacle to extradition because there is no indictment in a Philippine court as yet,” Guevarra said.

In the event that Quiboloy’s extradition is sought, the DOJ and the Department of Foreign Affairs would have to evaluate first and determine if the US case is covered by the existing extradition treaty, Guevarra said.

If it is established that the US case is covered by the treaty, the DOJ will file a petition for extradition before a local court.

“If granted, and the judgment became final, the respondent may then be physically turned over to the requesting state for further legal proceedings,” Guevarra added.

The US DOJ announced in its official web site last November 18 that Quiboloy—leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC) and spiritual adviser

of President Duterte—has been indicted by a federal grand jury with sex trafficking along with two co-defendants identified as Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Felina Salinas.

Guevar ra told repor ters that there is no pending criminal case against Quiboloy in Philippine courts for sex trafficking or similar offenses.

However, he disclosed that a female complainant in Davao City filed in 2020 a complaint against Quiboloy for rape, child abuse, ill treatment under the Rev ised Penal Code (R PC), trafficking in persons through forced labor, and trafficking in persons through sexual abuse.

This was dismissed by the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office, but the complainant has appealed the dismissal before his office and it is still pending.

Guevarra stressed that Quiboloy will not be accorded special treatment should an extradition case be filed against him. “ The DOJ, through the IACAT [Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking], will perform its mandate under the law regardless of the persons involved,” Guevarra said.

He pointed out that “treaty obligations are as legally binding on us as our own laws.”

Quiboloy ‘ready to face raps’

THE legal counsel of Quiboloy said he was ready to face the charges against him, and described the indictment as the moves made by “dissidents,” or former members of his sect.

“While jealousy and evil will never stop, we strongly believe that good always triumphs over evil. The people who accused him today in California, are the same dissidents who miserably failed in their attempt to bring Pastor Quiboloy into the case in Hawaii,” said a statement from Quiboloy’s lawyer late Friday.

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Lacson to push for fund boost for Pag-Asa, WPS defense

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ENATOR Panfilo M. Lacson, as Senate Defense Committee chairman, vowed to tweak the proposed 2022 budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) to provide additional allocations for residents and soldiers inhabiting remote territories in the West Philippine Sea. “Well, tamang-tama kasi budget deliberation kami ngayon sa [Well, the timing is just right because we are deliberating on the budget in the] Senate at hindi lamang sa aspekto ng West Philippine Sea; ang tinanong naming anong mga pangangailangan ninyo [and we asked them what else do you need here]?,” Lacson said at a press briefing after visiting the Kalayaan Island Group, a municipality of Palawan, on Saturday.

He was referring to the officers and residents at Pag-Asa Island, the largest of the KIG, whom he and several of his Partido Reporma spoke to.

The senator counted there were less than 200 inhabitants, occupying “just the biggest and the only barangay in the Kalayaan municipality,” adding that “even without asking the inhabitants there, of course [being] fisherfolks, they are affected, right?” referring to China’s relentlessly expanding presence in the remote areas claimed by the Philippines.

His office later revealed that during the flight from Puerto Princesa to Pag-Asa, the pilots of the private plane ferrying them received an ominous warning from the “Chinese Navy” telling them to stay away from a Chinese “military zone” to avoid “misjudgment.”

That incident came just a day after Manila strongly protested the hourlong water-cannon attack by the Chinese Coast Guard of Philippine civilian ships on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippine military’s outpost in Ayungin Shoal.

Referring to the fisherfolk in the Kalayaan island, Lacson said, partly in Filipino, “They’re the ones most affected,right?” They are always threatened. But beyond that, the livelihood of people in Kalayaan or in Pag-asa merits attention from the government.” Butch Fernandez

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 22, 2021

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Belgrove Power to spend ₧3.8B for Rizal gas plant

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By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

elgrove Power Corp. (BPC), a subsidiary of Romero-led Fort Pilar Energy Inc., is spending about P3.8 billion for the construction of a 60-megawatt (MW) gas turbine power plant in Pililla, Rizal.

The power facility, which is expected to commence construction

by June next year, will be composed of two generator units with 30MW capacity each and will be operated to provide ancillary services to the grid.

Ancillary services, as defined in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2011, are services that are necessary to support the transmission capacity and energy from resources to loads while maintaining reliable operation of the transmission system.

“The proposed project will be operated to supply power when the national grid cannot deliver the power requirement, and to maintain the power quality, reliability and security

of the grid,” said BPC in a project description submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau.

The plant will be built inside the compound of the non-operational Malaya Thermal Power Plant (MTTP), which was successfully sold to Fort Pilar by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

BPC intends to use aeroderivative gas turbines, which are touted as having the highest availability of any thermal power technology. It is expected to be ready for commercial operations by December of next year.

The power firm will prepare an environmental management plan to address the potential environmen-

tal impacts of the proposed project.

Also, it plans to hire about 100 workers for the construction phase and about 20 more to oversee the entire operation and maintenance of the project.

BPC earlier informed the Department of Energy that it plans to repair MTTP Unit 2, which could no longer be utilized due to damaged turbine and air pre-heater. The company has yet to decide if it will rehab or replace Unit 1.

Fort Pilar bought MTTP and its underlying land from PSALM for P4,185,656,423.99. The proceeds will be used to settle the remaining financial obligations that PSALM absorbed from the National Power Corp. Fort Pilar Energy Chief Executive Officer Joseph Omar Castillo earlier said BPC will earmark an initial P500 million for the repair of the 43-year old power facility and the purchase of two new modular aeroderivative gas engines.

The new engines could also accommodate mixed fuel, including liquefied natural gas (LNG). Ultimately, the goal is to bring back its reliable capacity to 650MW. “We expect to complete repairs for unit 2 within four months. We

will keep unit 2 as diesel but the new engines we will be bringing in the facility have the capability to handle mixed fuel, so when the LNG terminals are put up in the country we would be ready to receive it as well,” said Castillo.

Fort Pilar wants to produce as much as 3,000MW in power generating capacity in five years. “We want to be a major player in the industry so we can capture a good market share of 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts in the next five years. But in terms of energy source, renewable energy will be our focus and baseload capacity is also a consideration,” said Castillo.

Fort Pilar Energy Chairman Shiela Romero had said the company can achieve its target capacity by acquiring more power plants in the future.

“Malaya is the first in Luzon and, last month, we also completed the acquisition of ADSI [Alterpower Digos Solar Inc.]. We’re also constructing a constructing a battery energy storage system [BESS] in Zamboanga,” said Romero, adding that Fort Pilar envisions MTTP as “the premier back-up power for the country’s main grid.” The BESS, meanwhile, is scheduled for commissioning in February next year.

Meralco: PEDC submits lowest bid

P

anay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) submitted the lowest bid for the contract to supply the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) 70 megawatts of capacity from January 2022 to January 2037.

The Third-Party Bids and Awards Committee (TPBAC), which was in charge of the competitive selection process held last Friday, said PEDC offered the lowest total headline rate of P2.9906 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and total levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) rate of P2.948 per kWh.

PEDC’s offer was below the reserve prices of P5.0268 per kWh for the headline rate and P3.7898 per kWh for the LCOE rate that were set for the bidding.

Other companies that submitted offers were SEM-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) with a P4.8737 per kWh headline rate and Therma Luzon Inc. with P4.7 per kWh. Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. withdrew from the bidding process.

SCPC and TLI submitted LCOE rates of PP5.2894 per kWh and

P5.1650 per kWh, respectively, which were above the LCOE reserve price.

The TPBAC will now conduct a post-qualification evaluation to determine if it should issue a notice of award to PEDC. “As a regulated entity, Meralco has conducted its business in full compliance with all rules and regulations issued by the ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] and DOE [Department of Energy]. The TOR [terms of reference] were reviewed and approved by the DOE, and all

contracts resulting from this bidding process shall be subjected to regulatory proceedings and evaluation by the ERC,” said TPBAC Secretariat and Meralco Vice President and Head of Utility Economics Department Lawrence Fernandez.

TPBAC Chairman Ferdinand Domingo said the committee complied with its mandate to conduct the bid in an open and transparent manner to achieve the least cost of electricity, in accordance with the DOE’s circular. Lenie Lectura

PLDT to unveil new Internet service Synergy declares dividends

S

ynergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. (SGP), which owns a 60-percent indirect interest in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), has announced a dividend of P0.20 per share.

SGP’s dividends amounting to a total of P1,053,173,200 is based on record date as of December 14, 2021, to be paid on January 10, 2022.

“We are thankful to the investing public for their support since our follow-on offering. We are happy to announce this dividend payout after our follow-on offering; we look forward to a long fruitful partnership with our stockholders,” said Henry T. Sy Jr., SGP chairman.

“This dividend payout is proof of SGP’s fulfillment of its commitment with its partner investors. They can be assured that their investment in SGP will contribute to the development of the nation’s sole transmission network and will be used fully by National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to finance its capital expenditure requirements,” added Robert G. Coyiuto, Jr., vice chairman of SGP. SGP, the indirect controlling shareholder of power transmission operator NGCP, concluded its follow-on offering which was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange last November 10. Lenie Lectura

BusinessMirror file photo

T

he PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) launched over the weekend the country’s first-ever 10,000 Mbps fiber-optic service, in a move that is expected to set the bar for the future of internet speeds in the Philippines.

The new service under PLDT Home will be introduced first in Metro Manila this December and will then implement further expansions in other key cities outside Metro Manila like Cebu and Davao in 2022.

The planned rollout is the culmination of PLDT Home’s year-long network expansion program for the year.

“We at PLDT continue to play an active role in shaping the future of our country and leading the way towards a connected nation. We are doing all these for our north star— our customers: business owners, professionals, tech mavericks with very large homes, multiple high-bandwidth users with multiple screens.

And with all that life requires of them, they need the fastest home broadband powered by the fastest network. And we are more than ready to give them what they need—all 10,000 of it,” said Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT President and Chief Executive Officer.

The new service now puts the country next to first-world nations, such as South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Italy, New Zealand, and the USA, in terms of having access to ultra-fast home internet speed.

“Consistent with our commitment to provide superior technology to address the Filipinos’ growing digital connectivity needs, PLDT Home continues to innovate and make a difference in the lives of our customers,” said Butch G. Jimenez, Senior Vice President and Head of PLDT Home Business. “With our all-new, upgraded, and fastest internet speed, Filipino homes will now be able to experience and enjoy the

future—that is the smart home.”

Leading market and consumer data provider Statista defines “smart home” as a private household controlled, monitored, and regulated through networked devices. Statista predicted a household penetration rate in the Philippines of 7.5 percent for 2021 and 14.2 percent, or 3.4 million active smart homes, by 2025.

PLDT Home’s new Fiber Plan comes with a WiFi 6 Mesh System that will guarantee ultra-fast WiFi speeds covering an area of over 550 square meters.

Also, PLDT Home launched new Fiber plans this month. These new plans automatically give PLDT Home Fiber subscribers free upgrades of as much as three times their subscribed internet speeds.

At end-September, PLDT added 324,000 new fiber subscribers, ending the third quarter with a marketleading count of 2.77 million fixed broadband customers. Lenie Lectura

Ensure Malampaya’s seamless transfer to new operator–solon

F

ollowing Shell’s decision to sell its stake in Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), a House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability vice chairman on Sunday asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure the “seamless transfer” of Malampaya’s day-to-day gas business.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel made the pronouncement amid calls for an inquiry into the $460-million operator switch from Shell Petroleum B.V. to Udenna Corp.

Effective January 1, 2022, Udenna will become Malampaya’s operator, following Shell’s decision to sell for $460 million its 100 percent stake in SPEX. “We are counting on a smooth handover with zero disruption to Malampaya’s vital gas operations that supply up to 20 percent of the country’s electricity demand and provide the government a 60 percent share in net revenues,” Pimentel said.

His remarks also came after a second reelectionist senator pressed for an inquiry into Udenna subsidiary Malampaya Energy XP Pte Ltd’s acquisition of Shell’s operating stake in the offshore gas field.

Pimentel, meanwhile, welcomed the new operator’s decision to absorb all of SPEX’s officers and staff, thus assuring the operational reliability and safety of Malampaya’s gas business.

SPEX holds a 45-percent operating interest in Malampaya under Service Contract 38.

Sampaguita gas

According to Pimentel, the lower chamber is now looking into the Sampaguita gas discovery in Recto Bank.

“Moving forward, we in the House are now more interested in the country’s longer-term energy security, particularly the development of the larger Sampaguita gas discovery located 250 kilometers southwest of Malampaya.”

Citing DOE records, Pimentel said Sampaguita’s operator is required to drill two offshore appraisal wells on or before October 16, 2022, a deadline less than 11 months away.

“We want the operator to drill the commitment wells on schedule.

We are hoping that Sampaguita can transition from exploration to production within this decade—just in time to replace Malampaya’s thinning reserves that are projected to last only until 2027 to 2029,” Pimentel said.

Publicly listed PXP Energy Corp., through Forum Energy Ltd, has a 70-percent operating interest in Service Contract 72, which includes the Sampaguita gas finding.

Sampaguita is projected to contain 2.6 trillion cubic feet of in-place gas and 5.5 trillion cubic feet of inplace prospective gas, according to an independent assessment by Weatherford Petroleum Consultants.

Another study estimates Sampaguita’s potential resources at 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and 440 million barrels of oil. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Local coops urged to digitize operations

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief @awimailbox

D

AVAO CITY—The country’s cooperatives may shield themselves from external challenges by accelerating their digitalization, according to Traxion Technology Services Cooperative.

Ann Cuisia, chairman of the cooperative, told a gathering of established coops last month in Cebu City that digitizing operations may be the more practical way to ensure that cooperatives would not be affected by external shocks.

“We either digitize or die,” she said, citing the move of top-performing cooperatives worldwide in other countries which use technology to engage their members in important discussions, such as governance and decision-making.

She said adopting technology and applying it in more areas of operations would give cooperatives an edge.

“But how do we future proof the cooperative sector? By partnering with the right technology platforms.”

Director Doreen Ancheta of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)-Region 7, told the same gathering that “the pandemic, which constrained our people’s mobility for almost two years now, has intensified the trend toward digitalization”.

“Unfortunately, technological adoption in the local setting is still considered low,” she added. While cooperatives were already following the digitalization trend, she said adaption was “still largely confined to the large ones only”.

The CDA official said digitaliza-

tion was “a natural progression for cooperative members that are part of the huge, asset-rich cooperatives”.

“But how about the small and micro cooperatives? That is still the challenge for our country,” she said.

“In the Philippines, 54 percent of the cooperatives are classified as micro cooperatives. Altogether, they own only 2 percent of all cooperatives’ assets”.

Cuisia said digiCOOP, the digital platform that her cooperative has developed, suits the needs of the cooperatives. Describing it as the first Philippine cooperative-owned technology platform for cooperatives, she said digiCOOP “aims to unite and serve multiple membercooperative in terms of improving their income streams; and the individual members by building the latter’s own wealth through participation in a lively ecosystem beyond their own cooperative”.

She said digiCOOP business centers are currently being operated by Tekton Entre Multipurpose Cooperative in Cebu City, Sta. Monica Bukidnon Multi-purpose Cooperative in Bukidnon, and San Jose Multi-purpose Cooperative in Antique.

The October 29 gathering of cooperatives in Central Visayas was held at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel in Cebu City. This was also attended by the Perpetual Help Community Cooperative–Dumaguete, Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative, Cebu Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative, National Teachers and Employees Cooperative Bank, and Mandaue City Public Market Vendors MultiPurpose Cooperative.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 22, 2021

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Megaworld: Bulacan assets to generate ₧6B in sales

P

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

roperty developer Megaworld Corp. said it will develop some 16 hectares of central business district (CBD) in its property in Bulacan, which will be patterned after New York’s Fifth Avenue as it will have shops and tall buildings.

The company said it expects some P6 billion in sales for the development, which will be due for turnover in 2026.

The company said it will call the new CBD as Northwin Main Street, which will offer 145 prime shophouse and commercial lots lined up in streets surrounded with gardens and parks.

The said development forms part of Megaworld’s 85-hectare Northwin Global City in Marilao and Bocaue in Bulacan.

Shophouse lot sizes range from 250 square meters to 550 square meters while commercial lot sizes

range from 450 square meters to 750 square meters.

With designs inspired by French architecture, shophouses may be built up to three-storeys high for retail, food and beverage outlets such as cafes, restaurants and bars, boutique hotels and even outpatient clinics. The topmost floor of shophouses may be used for residential or office purposes.

Commercial buildings may be built up to five-storeys high exclusively for commercial purposes only such as office or boutique hotels.

“Since the township is just conveniently located along the North

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK

Luzon Expressway, and just 20 kilometers away from Metro Manila, this will be the nearest business district outside of the capital where companies and businesses can build their shops and offices,” said Noli D. Hernandez, the company’s executive vice president for sales and marketing.

“We also encourage entrepreneurs to become part of this global business district, which will soon be just 20 minutes away from the much-anticipated New Manila International Airport in Bulacan.”

The Northwin Main Street will be masterplanned for connectivity and mobility with promenades and walking parks to be integrated between blocks of the district, the company said.

Around 44 percent of the district will be allocated for green and open spaces. Leading to the district are main roads and avenues that will be as wide as 30 meters or eight lanes for both sides.

One of the main stations of the Manila-Clark Railway project will also be located inside the township, offering convenient accessibility to the future workers and residents of Northwin Global City.

Positioned as Bulacan’s global

mutual funds

November 19, 2021

Last week

Share prices fell last week after investors decided to sell their holdings due to lack of leads despite the decline in Covid-19 cases and the further reopening of the economy.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 102.27 points to close at 7,280.57 points.

The market was down almost all week long, except on Tuesday when it closed 25.05 points higher. The listing of the follow-on offer shares of Lucio Co’s The Keepers Holdings Inc. also failed to perk up the market.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also kept its key rates steady—a development that has been expected by the market.

All other subindices ended in the red led by the broader All Shares index that lost 86.57 points to 3,878.11 points, the Financials index retreated 35.47 to 1,578.25, the Industrial index fell 118.88 to 10,707, the Holding Firms index declined 94.65 to 7,011.98, the Property index was down 42.72 to 3,334.36, the Services index dropped 23.67 to 1,980.45 and the Mining and Oil index shed 375.65 to 9,308.22.

For the week losers outnumbered gainers 160 to 62 and 29 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Primex Corp., Marcventures Holdings Inc., Keppel Philippines Properties Inc. ACE Enexor Inc., Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. A, Monde Nissin Corp. and AREIT Inc. Top losers were The Keepers Holdings, DITO CME Holdings Corp., Jolliville Holdings Corp., AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., Concrete Aggregates Corp. B, Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. and Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc.

This week

Share prices may pick up this week following two successive weeks of decline.

“Despite a second-straight week of weakness, the main benchmark index’s technical upward trend remains intact, albeit with less wiggle room and more bias towards consolidation,” broker 2TradeAsia said.

With factory output at a 7-month high and earnings expectations close to the upper limit of initial forecast, the broker may also raise its 16 times forward price to earnings ratio of listed firms by the end of the year.

It said, however, the country’s inflation rate may remain elevated over the next few months as schools--the major economic activity pool--are set to begin its face-to-face classes by early next year.

2TradeAsia advised to brace for momentum shifts as funds begin cycling through the 2022 candidates.

It sees immediate support for the main index at 7,200 points and resistance at 7,400 points.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. recommended to sell on rallies on the stock of Jollibee Foods Corp. as its technical readings are changing directions.

“Momentum and selling pressure are starting to weaken while buying pressure is catching up. Investors with attractive positions may consider lightening up a bit as JFC’s price goes up,” it said, placing a target price on the stock at P252.50.

Jollibee shares closed at P249 on Friday.

Meanwhile, it advised to buy the stock of Converge ICT when its support price holds, after falling hard during last week’s trade then recovered by the end of the trading week.

“This spells that there’s a high possibility that Converge support at P30.90 will be tested. In the event that this gets broken, the next support would be at P30.25—the stock’s 100 day moving average,” the broker said.

Converge ICT shares closed last week at P31.25 apiece. VG Cabuag

business district, the P98-billion township will also host residential condominiums, hotels, malls, mixeduse commercial buildings, educational institutions and office towers for business process outsourcing firms and corporate headquarters.

It will also feature green innovations and sustainable facilities such as storm water detention facility for flood prevention, fiber optic and underground cabling system for utilities, LED and solar-powered streetlights, sewage treatment plant, central material recovery facility for waste recycling, as well its own Intermodal Transport Terminal and biking network facilities.

Megaworld said its income in January to September grew 6 percent to P8.6 billion from last year’s P8.1 billion. The company said consolidated revenues for the period rose 10 percent to P36.9 billion from last year’s P33.4 billion.

For the quarter ending September, Megaworld said its income rose 46 percent to P3.3 billion from P2.2 billion last year.

Consolidated revenues during the quarter rose by half to P14.5 billion from last year’s P9.6 billion, the company said.

NAV

One Year Three Year Five Year

per share Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

232.83

2.68%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.6745

37.33% 3.53%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.2392

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7558 -3.83%

-1.18%

-1.16%

2.48%

7.11%

4.1%

27.53%

-4.56%

-3.92%

3.39%

-4.12% n.a.

-7.01%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7972 8.21%

0.31% n.a.

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a

1.36%

0.81%

2.56%

-0.95%

5.2113

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

6.25% 0.781

7.5% 5.46% -2.84% 0.59%

98.31

6.55%

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

47.9055

3.39%

0.77%

0.46%

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

500.24

2.53%

0.67%

-0.2%

2.31%

Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d

1.1714

11.11% n.a. n.a.

6.75%

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.3224

15.19%

3.13%

1.94%

13.2%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

36.5157

6.8%

1.31%

1.23%

5.02%

-2.99% n.a.

-3.49% 2.27%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.9417

3.08% n.a. n.a.

3.14%

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a

4.9358

4.22%

3.02%

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

824.14

4.04%

1.58%

1.06%

2.81%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.7587

5.71%

-2.63%

-1.96%

5.54%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.7508

1.58%

1.12%

4.62%

-1.36%

-0.54%

3.5%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.94

3.6%

1.22%

0.82%

2.43%

United Fund, Inc. -a

5.2%

1.04%

1.66%

3.9%

3.4479

ALFM

Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c

110.84

4.08%

1.78%

1.55% 3.05%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities $1.1795

2.21%

7.2%

6.83%

-1.95%

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.8862

ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

18.65%

16.54%

13.12%

12.76%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.7038

3.86%

1.9%

0.01%

2.11%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.2696

1.37%

1.85%

0.17%

-0.69%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.7055

3.66%

3.36%

1.91%

2.99%

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.2045

3.39% n.a. n.a. 3.23%

NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

2.0096

2.8%

3.78%

2.21%

2.16%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.7582

-0.33%

3.33%

1.08%

-0.84%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

16.8255

-0.26%

3.03%

1%

-0.68%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.1197

1.48%

1.93%

0.93%

1.37%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.6358 2.57%

0.76%

0.5%

1.75%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9895

-2.34% n.a. n.a.

-3.24%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9408

-0.11% n.a. n.a.

-0.88%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.9317

0.66% n.a. n.a.

-0.15%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

7.68%

6.57%

0.946

1.47%

0.71%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03777

-3.6%

2.89%

1.44%

-3.4%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0823

-2.73%

4.78%

4.1%

-4.22%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.8645 12.82%

11.91%

9.47%

7.79%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a $1.2251 4.74%

6.64%

5%

1.9%

0.46%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

372.81

0.86%

2.9%

2.54%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9222

1.38%

1.37%

0.5%

1.15%

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

3.2436

1.11%

3.15%

4.03%

0.88%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.24

-2.54%

-2.14%

1.8%

1.63%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4183 -1.08%

3.16%

1.84%

-1.42%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.41%

1.65%

-5.32%

4.3839

-5.02%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a

1.3141

-0.01%

3.77%

2.56%

-0.54%

Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.9427

-0.48%

4.34%

2.51%

-1.46%

Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.0219

-1.28%

5.03%

1.96%

-2.07%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1784

-0.11%

4.92%

3.63%

-0.86%

Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

-0.84%

4.17%

2.92%

-1.72%

1.7248

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$488.56

1.41%

3.04%

2.44%

ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a

Є219.94

0.72%

1.09%

0.95%

0.33%

ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2016

-4.76%

2.31%

1.73%

-6.11%

First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.026 -1.89%

0.94%

1.59%

0.95%

-2.26%

-6.7%

-0.21%

-0.86%

-6.67%

$2.4887

-1.3%

5.26%

2.61%

-2.02%

Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0624213 0.64%

3.14%

2.01%

0.19%

-1.94%

3.22%

1.5%

-2.07%

2.55%

0.89%

PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b

$1.0173

Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.157

Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

130.97

1.16%

2.89%

First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0565 0.95% n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.3133

1.5%

2.66%

2.54%

0.8% 1.26%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0599

0.82%

1.49% n.a.

0.6%

Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d 1.3746

26.91% n.a. n.a. 21.69%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a,d

$0.98

1.03% n.a. n.a.

0%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last July 8, 2021 (formerly, Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.).

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

SEC drafts rules on fintech registration, online lending

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

T

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued draft guidelines for the registration and operation of online lending platforms, an amendment of its previous regulation in line with efforts to stamp out abusive and predatory practices.

The SEC released for public comment the draft guidelines last November 19, following the imposition of a moratorium on the registration of new online lenders two weeks before.

The draft guidelines will apply to both existing and newly-registered financing and lending companies who have yet to own, operate or utilize a lending platform and other modes of financial technology (fintech), as well as those who are already engaged in fintech, that aims to provide their credit products and related services.

Under the proposed guidelines, no financing or lending company will be allowed to own, operate or use online-lending platform or engage in fintech without registration and prior approval by the SEC. The company’s ability to engage in fintech must also be included in its purpose as stated in its Articles of Incorporation.

Aside from being registered and licensed as financing or lending companies, applicants for an license must also have at least five directors and at least two independent directors, or such number that that will constitute 20 percent of the members of the board of directors, whichever is higher.

The SEC Corporate Governance and Finance Department will then evaluate the documents submit-

ted by the applicant company. The financing or lending company will then present its business and operational plan as well as its marketing strategy, target market, interest rates, loan products, and services before a panel of representatives from the SEC. The financing or lending company will also provide a walk-through of the simulating actual user experience, its complaint-handling process and a discussion on the extent of data to be collected by the platform and how these would be handled.

A SEC panel will then submit its recommendation to the SEC en banc, which will decide on whether to grant or deny the application. Rejected financing and lending companies may reapply after one year and should demonstrate that the reason for rejection no longer exists.

Under the draft guidelines, the license shall have an initial validity of one year from the issuance date, subject to periodical examination and renewal by the regulator.

Financing companies who fail to comply with the conditions of the license will be subject to penalties amounting to P100,000 for the first offense and P200,000 for the second offense. Lending companies will be subject to penalties of P50,000 and P100,000 for the first and second offense, respectively.

For the third offense, the SEC may impose a fine of not less than twice the basic penalty but not more than P1 million; suspension of the license for 60 days; or revocation of the license.

The regulator may also impose a daily penalty of P400 and P200 for financing and lending companies, respectively, on top of basic penalties.

Fed seen to take faster drawdown in asset buys

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HE Federal Reserve looks on course to consider a more rapid drawdown of its mammoth bond-buying program just weeks after it instituted a plan to scale the purchases back in a methodical manner.

A trio of policy-makers—Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, Governor Christopher Waller and St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard—signaled this week that the topic of a faster taper might be on the table when the Federal Open Market Committee meets on December 14 to December 15.

“I’ll be looking closely at the data that we get between now and the December meeting,” Clarida said Friday.

“It may well be appropriate at that meeting to have a discussion about increasing the pace at which we are reducing” our asset purchases.

Slowing the growth

CLARIDA told a San Francisco Fed conference that the US economy is in a “very strong position” and that there is an “upside risk to inflation.”

A faster reduction in the so-called quantitative easing program would give policy makers an earlier opportunity to lift interest rates from near zero should they deem that necessary to keep the economy from overheating. Officials have vouchsafed a reluctance to raise rates and tighten credit at the same time they’re pumping money into the economy though bond buying.

It was just over two weeks ago that the FOMC announced it would start slowing its $120 billion of monthly asset purchases at a steady pace that puts it on track to finish the process by mid-2022.

But the economic data released since then have surprised in a hawkish direction, said JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief US Economist Michael Feroli.

Consumer prices skyrocketed by 6.2 percent in October from a year earlier, led by cars, food, gasoline,

electricity and fuel oil.

The jobs market also surprised to the upside. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 531,000 last month after September’s 312,000 gain, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent.

“The risk of accelerating the taper at the December meeting has risen,” Brett Ryan, senior US economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., said.

“The latest inflation data has caused policy makers to reevaluate their inflation outlook and the December discussion will certainly be more in depth on tapering.”

Feroli, for his part, doubts that the Fed will opt to speed up the reduction in its asset purchases, though he said it could be persuaded to do so by unexpectedly outsized gains in payrolls in the months ahead.

Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC, agrees that a December taper decision is unlikely. Unlike Feroli, though, he sees the Fed eventually deciding to speed up the drawdown, perhaps at its meeting in late January.

“They’re open to the possibility that they’re going to need to kick the normalization process into a faster gear,” he said.

Barkin, Kashkari

NOT all policy-makers are pushing for speedier action. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the central bank can be “patient” in assessing the taper and “it’s very helpful for us to have a few more months to evaluate.” Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said, “We shouldn’t overreact to what is likely going to be a temporary factor.”

After the Fed announced the start of its pullback earlier this month, Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the central bank would give investors a head-up before deciding to change the speed of the drawdown.

Bloomberg News

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, November 22, 2021

B3

VAT exemption now covers imported fruits, vegetables

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE importation of all unprocessed fruits and vegetables are now exempted from the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT), following a recent amendment made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), expanding the coverage of the exemption.

The BIR’s recently-issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 1122021 clarified the list of imported perishable food products that are exempted from the 12-percent VAT. The circular amended the provisions of another circular jointlyissued by the BIR and the Bureau of Customs (JMC 1-2002) to expand the coverage of the VAT exemption

to all perishable agricultural food products.

JMC 1-2002 contains the list of imported perishable agricultural food products that are exempted from the VAT. The amendment of the JMC 1-2002 allowed the exemption from the VAT of imported fruits and vegetables that recently gained market access to the Philippines, such as

blueberries from the United States.

“The Annex of JMC 48-2002 previously listed all the unprocessed vegetable products and unprocessed edible fruits and nuts that were covered by the VAT exemption. It did not, however, include imported fresh produce that gained market access later, such as fresh blueberries,” a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report said.

“The new RMC clarifies that all unprocessed fruits and vegetables that may be legally imported into the country are exempt from the 12percent VAT,” the report, which was prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, added.

RMC 112-2021 amended “Provision C” and “Provision D” of JMC 482022 and included the phrase “such as but not limited to” in order to cover unprocessed vegetables products, edible fruits and nuts that recently gained market access to the country.

Through RMC 112-2021, the BIR scrapped the requirement of an “Au-

thority to Release Imported Goods,” or Atrig, for the importation of perishable agricultural food products that are exempted from the VAT. The Atrig was required prior to the release of the goods from Customs’ custody.

The BIR said it issued a new circular after receiving concerns and issues from both revenue officials and stakeholders regarding the requirement of Atrig for the concerned imported products. The BIR pointed out that it scrapped the Atrig in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018.

“Consistent with the mandate as stated under Republic Act 11032, otherwise known as the ‘Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018,’ it is hereby clarified that the issuance of an Atrig shall no longer be necessary for the importation of perishable agricultural food products, such as the unprocessed vegetable, fruits and nuts, which are exempt from the VAT pursuant to Section 109(1) A of the Tax Code, as amended,” RMC 112-2021 read.

AUB optimistic despite 9-mo income drop of ₧900M

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

more than its net income last year amounting to P3 billion, the listed bank said in a recent statement.

XECUTIVES of Asia United Bank (AUB) “We projected that 2021 will be a expressed optimism it will meet its P4better year and we are on track with billion consolidated net income target our targets, so far,” AUB President this year despite seeing its net income in the Manuel A. Gomez was quoted in the first nine months drop to P2.9 billion from P3.8 statement as saying. “The easing of billion in the same period year ago. lockdown restrictions, the continuous Its gains from trading and securities were vaccine rollouts by the government cut by P2.4 billion. The lender said this was and the improvement in the busipartially offset by a P1.6-billion decline in ness climate should all bode well for provision for losses. the bank’s commercial and consumer Its return on assets and return on equity lending businesses.” slipped to 1.3 percent and 10.8 percent from last The listed bank, meanwhile, saw a year’s 1.8 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.

25-percent cut in expenses during the Total assets, however, climbed by 9 percent period because of lower loan loss provito P317 billion in the first nine months from sion. This, after earmarking “significant P291 billion in the same period last year. buffer” for credit risk in the past year, Loan portfolio was flat at P165 billion in it added.

January to September but total deposits rose “We anticipate credit quality to conby 13 percent to P262 billion during the same tinue to improve as the economy opens period.

This photo courtesy of the Asia United Bank (AUB) shows a façade of the lender’s head“As both the banking industry and consum- quarters. Despite seeing income in the first nine months of the year drop by P900 million, up so our loan loss provision should be sufficient for the year,” Gomez said. ers remained cautious in the third quarter, executives of AUB remain optimistic the bank would meet its target this year.

“We also see better trading opportunioverall loan appetite remained weak,” AUB said.

The lender based its optimism on the back of ties and stable operating expenses as the monThis was supported by the 11-percent decline to better business and consumer confidence. etary policy stance remains accommodative to P8 billion of the bank’s net interest income from support the economy’s full recovery.”

The bottom-line projection is 30 percent loans and receivables as of end-September. @Tyronepiad

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Perspectives Net-zero commitments: Where’s the plan?

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OST companies lack comprehensive plans for achieving their emission targets. This is, to some extent, understandable given the evolving nature of regulations, innovation and government direction. Without knowing which technology is likely to produce the greatest breakthrough, and with uncertainty over future government incentives and/ or penalties, there is an inclination to adopt a “wait and see” approach.

However, despite these concerns, decarbonization should still be treated like any other corporate strategy, with robust financial and operational plans and forecasts— including funding—that set a path to meet the publicly-announced commitments. Failure to do so can bring significant regulatory and business risks.

Our eight steps for a decarbonization disclosure plan 1. Disclose your decarbonization governance.

Net-zero is a critical issue and boards should have oversight of decarbonization, set the right “tone from the top,” disclosing how often they discuss the plan, and detailing how they monitor and oversee prog-

ress. Management’s role in set-up, monitoring and implementation should also be clarified.

2. Be transparent about your emissions covered in your commitment.

A detailed breakdown of targets shows the world that your organization has a serious plan for addressing climate change. And, by explaining why certain emissions are not included, companies can improve credibility.

3. Disclose your full and intermediate net-zero targets.

The target year for the net-zero commitment should not be later than 2050, to help ensure that plans incorporate existing or emerging technologies within predictable scenarios, avoiding uncertainty. An intermediate target date (say, 2030 or 2035) is less distant for investors and stakeholders and puts pressure on companies to act quickly.

4. Present a detailed, credible net-zero plan.

Companies should present a comprehensive decarbonization strategy that encompasses the entire value chain and clarifies which emissions are covered. The plan would include different rates of progress for different parts of the organization, as well

as scenarios for slower and faster rates of decarbonization across the supply chain, manufacturing, etc.

5. Describe how the plan is integrated into your corporate strategy.

The plan should be a core business strategy, not just fitting into it. This means outlining, in some detail, how execution of the decarbonization plan is cascaded within the organization, incorporated into business planning and aligned with the overall strategy.

In particular, companies should anticipate the future impact of carbon pricing by introducing an internal carbon price, as well as using other mechanisms to inform investment decisions.

6. Highlight the plan’s risks, challenges and uncertainties.

These include the Fluctuating decarbonization costs, Political development, Countries’ future energy mix, Technological breakthrough, Availability of carbon removal techniques, Price of carbon offsets and carbon price, and Controversies over technologies.

7. Detail your plan’s impact.

Decarbonization involves a major shift and companies should identify how the plan impacts their strategy in terms of business models,

investments, and upstream and downstream value chain including products, business lines, R&D and operations. They may need to invest in new skills for employees, board and executives, which could involve upskilling, partnerships with third parties and academia, as well as defining new roles, responsibilities and organizational structure.

8. Review and report annual progress.

Decarbonization plans should be dynamic and evolve as uncertainty reduces over time, as companies get closer to targets or intermediate targets. By setting metrics, it’s possible to measure, track and report for an internal and external audience. Investors in particular will likely want to know what’s been achieved versus the plan, and how the organization compares against peers.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication entitled “Net-zero commitments: Where’s the plan?” © 2021 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG Intl. Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.

B4 Monday, November 22, 2021

Explainer BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Key reason for supply shortages:

Americans keep spending

Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. Intense demand for products has led to a backlog of container ships outside the nation's two largest ports along the Southern California coast. AP Photo/Noah Berger

Even as the pandemic has dragged on, US households flush with cash from stimulus checks, booming stock markets and enlarged home equity have felt like spending freely again—a lot. And since consumer demand drives much of the US and global economies, high demand has brought goods shortages to the US and much of the world.

By Tom Krisher & Paul Wiseman

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The Associated Press

AKE a step back from the pickedover store shelves, the stalled container ships and the empty auto showrooms, and you’ll find a root cause of the shortages of just about everything.

Even as the pandemic has dragged on, US households flush with cash from stimulus checks, booming stock markets and enlarged home equity have felt like spending freely again—a lot. And since consumer demand drives much of the US and global economies, high demand has brought goods shortages to the US and much of the world.

Add the fact that companies are ordering—and hoarding—more goods and parts than they need so they don’t run out, and you end up with an almost unquenchable demand that is magnifying the supply shortages.

That’s where a big problem comes in: Suppliers were caught so flatfooted by how fast pent-up spending surged out of the recession that they won’t likely be able to catch up as long as demand remains so robust. That’s especially so because Americans, still hunkered down at home more than they did before the pandemic, continue to spend more on goods—electronics, furniture, appliances, sporting goods—than on services like hotels, meals out and movie tickets. All that demand for goods, in turn, is helping to accelerate US inflation.

Unless spending snaps sharply back to services—or something else leads people to stop buying so much— it could take deep into 2022 or even 2023 before global supply chains regain some semblance of normalcy.

“Demand is completely skewed,” said Bindiya Vakil, CEO of Resilinc, a consulting firm that helps companies manage supply chains. “This has

now become more and more painful by the day.”

One reason people may eventually stop spending so much is that everything simply costs more now.

Consumer prices in the US skyrocketed 6.2 percent over the past year as food, gasoline, autos and housing catapulted inflation to its highest pace since 1990. The laws of gravity suggest that the cumulative effect of so much inflation will eventually exert a brake on spending.

For now, though, manufacturers foresee no end to heavy demand— and no end to beleaguered supply chains or spiking inflation pressures. A chronic lack of computer chips has forced Ford Motor Co., for instance, to revamp its system of ordering parts that require long periods from order to delivery to try to address shortages.

“It’s highlighted that the ‘just-intime’ operating model that’s been prevalent in autos may not be the right operating model,” Hau ThaiTang, Ford’s chief operations and product officer, told analysts.

Smaller companies, too, have felt compelled to build up as many supplies as they can so they can still make products. Moriarty’s Gem Art near Chicago, a family business for 40 years, has been stocking up on gold, silver and platinum to make necklaces and rings, desperate not to run out of supplies as holiday orders pick up.

“We’re ordering a lot more than what we actually have orders for— just in case,” said Jeff Moriarty, the marketing manager.

Containers line a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif.

Intense demand for products has led to a backlog of container ships outside the nation's two largest ports along the Southern California coast. AP Photo/Noah Berger

Even a normal post-holiday shopping lull, though it might help, isn’t expected to be enough to unclog ports, speed shipping traffic or allow factories to replenish inventories.

“The baseline expectation for improvement is around the middle of 2022,” said Oren Klachkin, lead US economist for Oxford Economics.

“But I think the risks of that happening later are fairly high.”

Though Americans have increasingly ventured out in recent months, the balance between spending on goods and services remains skewed.

The pent-up demand that followed the economic recovery is still tilted toward goods like furniture and cars and less toward haircuts, concerts and restaurant meals. Though services spending has grown in recent months, it isn’t nearly enough to close the gap.

Since Apr i l 2020, consumer spending on goods has jumped 32 percent. It’s now 15 percent above where it was in February 2020, just before the pandemic paralyzed the economy. Goods account for roughly 40 percent of consumer spending now, up from 36 percent before the pandemic.

US factories have tried mightily to keep up with demand. Production rose nearly 5 percent over the past year, according to the Federal Reserve, despite periodic ups and

downs, including disruptions to auto production caused by chip shortages.

Imports have narrowed the gap between what America’s consumers want and what its factories can produce. From January through September this year, the US imported 23 percent more than in the same period in 2020. In September, thanks to surging imports, the US posted a record deficit in goods trade: Imports topped exports by $98.2 billion.

Voracious demand for goods has accelerated as more people have become vaccinated in wealthier countries. Yet in poorer countries, especially in Southeast Asia, the spread of the delta variant forced new factory shutdowns in recent months and crimped supply chains again.

Only recently did it start to recover.

At the same time, many US workers have decided to quit jobs that had required frequent public contact.

This created shortages of workers to unload ships, transport goods or staff retail shops.

Ports clogged up. Last month, 65 ships waited off the California coast to be unloaded at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach—two weeks’ worth of work. The average wait: 12 days. That has since worsened to 78 ships, with an average wait of nearly 17 days, despite around-theclock port operations beginning in October.

Flint-built trucks are parked in a vacant field off I-75 on Sept. 21, 2021 in Flint, Mich. The Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierra pickups built at Flint Assembly are waiting for semiconductors. Experts say unless more spending shifts back to services or something else motivates people to stop buying, it could take well into next year or even 2023 before the US and global supply chains return to some semblance of normal. Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP

Before the pandemic, ships had set arrival times and went straight to a berth for unloading, said Gene Seroka, the LA port’s executive director. Now, with Asian factory output at record highs, the port is moving record levels of goods. Yet it’s not enough to meet the demand.

Seroka doesn’t foresee the shipments easing even next year. Retailers have told him they plan to use the slower months of January and February—if they actually are slower—to replenish inventory.

As with ports, rail lines are moving more goods. Through early November, freight shipped by America’s railroads was up 7.5 percent from a year ago. Truck shipments were up 1.7 percent in September. Yet there aren’t enough drivers or trucks to move all the freight.

In China, too, manufacturers are struggling with shipping delays, container shortages and cost increases.

Shantou Limei International Ltd., which makes children’s toys in the city of Shantou, expects sales to fall 30 percent this year because of delays and costlier shipping.

“The most serious problem for us is being unable to deliver goods on time because of the difficulties in securing freight containers,” said Frank Xie, the company’s general manager. “A lot of things have gone beyond our controls and expecta-

tion.”

Philip Richardson, an American who manufactures loudspeakers in Panyu, near Hong Kong, said orders have increased 400 percent.

A key reason is increased demand from Americans and Europeans, who have gone on a home electronics buying spree. The price to ship goods to US customers on a 40-foot cargo container, meantime, more than tripled in July.

“The customer has to bear it or cut back on orders,” Richardson said.

Song Wenjie, owner of Hand-inHand Electric Appliance Technology Co., a manufacturer of home appliances in Jiaxing, south of Shanghai, said that soaring cargo prices make it unprofitable to ship some goods.

“The combination of power outages and shipping delays might lead to a 20-percent fall in production this year, Song said.

A mong European companies grappling with snarled supply lines is Shoe Zone, a British retailer that sources most of its footwear from China. Shipping container prices have jumped at least five-fold in 12 months, said Anthony Smith, the chief executive.

“This will continue to impact us for at least a further six months until the issues being experienced in the whole supply chain return to more sensible levels,” he said.

Style

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DENNIS TRILLO and Jennylyn Mercado PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAT DY

Dior draws ire in China with photo that ‘smears Asian women’ CHRISTIAN Dior SE is the latest international fashion brand to face criticism in China, after an exhibition in Shanghai featured a photo that state media said was “smearing Asian women.” The photograph, included in the Lady Dior show, depicts an Asian woman dressed in a traditional costume and holding a Dior bag. It drew ire in an editorial published by the state-owned Beijing Daily on Monday with the headline: “Is This the Asian Woman in Dior’s Eyes?”

Shot by a local Chinese photographer, the image makes Chinese consumers feel uncomfortable, the report said. It features “spooky eyes, gloomy face, and Qing Dynasty-styled nail armor,” according to the article. Social media posts

by Dior, newspapers and the photographer all drew angry responses from the public, though there’s been no talk of a boycott. Dior didn’t have an immediate comment.

“The photographer is playing up to the brands, or the aesthetic tastes of the western world,” the publication said.

“For years, Asian women have always appeared with small eyes and freckles from the Western perspective, but the Chinese way to appreciate art and beauty can’t be distorted by that.”

Dolce & Gabbana experienced similar criticism three years ago after it posted videos featuring a Chinese model awkwardly attempting to eat cannoli and other Italian foods with chopsticks. Widely deemed offensive, the ads incited a consumer backlash and a sharp sales decline even after its founders apologized. While the luxury Italian fashion house lured back some customers, sales remain lower than they were before the misstep. Consumers still aren’t able to find Dolce & Gabbana on China’s major e-commerce platforms such as Tmall. Beijing News, in a commentary published in October, said it won’t be easy to regain market share without respecting Chinese consumers.

Global brands are facing a dilemma as they try to satisfy the demands of Western shoppers and human-rights groups for greater sustainability, without triggering conflict in China.

There’s growing nationalism among consumers in the world’s largest retail economy, amid escalating geopolitical tensions with the West.

A social media backlash hit Hennes & Mauritz AB this spring, with revenue in China falling at least 40 percent in its most recent quarter after it expressed concern about forced labor in Xinjiang. Nike Inc. has also come under pressure to walk a fine line in China—its fastest-growing market—amid a brewing controversy over its business practices there. It’s not the first time Dior angered China over political sensitivities.

In 2019, it gave a presentation at a university that included a map of the country. It excluded Taiwan. BLOOMBERG NEWS

ELLEN ADARNA in Marc Rancy TEAM PAT DY

ARNY ROSS in Mikee Andrei NICE PRINT PHOTOGRAPHY

Wedding Belles

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IME to bring out my inner Maritess (a rather generic, barangay version of Gossip Girl) and relish on some juicy tidbits about the private lives of public people. Earlier this year, Bond Girl Ana de Armas split from Batman Ben Affleck while pop diva Jennifer Lopez separated from athlete Alex Rodriguez. Now, Ben and Jen, who were previously engaged in the early 2000s, are rekindling their combustible coupling.

Some recent conscious uncouplings have been both scandalous and amicable: LJ Reyes and Paolo Contis, Alodia Gosiengfiao and Wil Dasovich, Kylie Padilla and Aljur Abrenica, Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes, Kaia Gerber and Jacob Elordi, Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik, Elon Musk and Grimes, Bill

and Melinda Gates, Kim and Kanye.

Not all is sad in the celebrity relationships front, though. Artist and heiress Ivy Love Getty married photographer Tobias Alexander Engel, wearing a gown by John Galliano for Maison Margiela Haute Couture. Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai married Asser Malik, a general manager of high performance at the Pakistan Cricket Board, in an Islamic ceremony wearing a peach salwar suit. And hotel heiress Paris Hilton wore Oscar de la Renta to marry venture capitalist Carter Reum.

Love is also in full bloom on the local front.

Favorite model Jasmine Maierhofer wore Francis Libiran to her wedding to Angelo. Other promises of forever include JC de Vera (Paul Cabral) and Rikkah Cruz (Francis Libiran), Kris Bernal (in Mak Tumang) and Perry Choi, Sam Pinto (in Michael Leyva) and Anthony Semerad (in Francis Libiran), Jessy Mendiola (Patricia Santos) and Luis Manzano (in Paulo Lazaro), and Rocco Nacino and Melssisa Gohing (both in Libiran).

The loveliest weddings to behold, all with IATFapproved intimacy, happened lately. After seven years together, GMA prized talents Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo married in a no-fuss civil ceremony, both clad in creamy white matching tuxedo suits.

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Monday, November 22, 2021

B5

CARLA ABELLANA in Monique Lhuillier and Tom Rodriguez in Francis Libiran TEAM PAT DY

Bubble Gang mainstay Arny Ross married her longtime boyfriend Franklin Banogon, wearing Mikee Andrei finery. The beautiful bride posted a quote: “Love is peaceful; pride is fearful. Love clarifies with truth; pride confuses with lies. Love and pride are mutually exclusive. Love dies with pride but comes alive with humility.”

Badass bride Ellen Adarna chose the equally spitfire Marc Rancy as her designer for her wedding to Derek Ramsay. As a self-confessed Maritess, Racy shared: “It was only during our final fitting in the atelier when Ellen, her besties and Derek’s mom chose which one would be worn on the big day. She chose the other one as it had less volume, and she wanted to move more easily as the wedding was to take place literally on top of a mountain.”

GMA power couple Carla Abellana and Tom Rodriguez sealed the love that was developed in the groundbreaking LGBT-themed teleserye My Husband’s Lover, where both costarred with Denis Trillo.

“I’m so happy because it’s true when they say na parang nabunutan ng tinik ’yung dibdib mo. Gumaan na ’yung pakiramdam. Nawala na lahat ng stress,” the To Have And To Hold actress told www.gmanetwok.com. “Lahat noong iniyak ko, na pinagdasal ko. Sulit talaga. Super thank you. Alam ko parang mababaw but it’s really my dream, so finally tuloy na siya.” ■

Rejuvenate the skin “SKIN rejuvenation” is a popular term for skincare products that give life to dull and dry skin.

However, the common notion is that a “rejuv” can be painful, intense and even dangerous because of the harsh chemicals they contain, often resulting in red, sore and peeling skin. The truth is, rejuvenating one’s skin can be painless and safe. Hello Glow Advanced Rejuvenating Set is a complete blend of high-tech active ingredients that work to give your skin the glow and refreshed look, the safe and natural way.

The Hello Glow Advanced Rejuvenating Set comes with Low pH Hydrating Cleanser, Get Bright Toner, Ultralight ++ Matte Sunscreen with SF 30, and the Nourishing Night Cream.

Hello Glow uses professionally compounded active ingredients like AHA’s, PHA’s, Bakuchiol, Niacinamide, and Micro-encapsulated Retinol to effectively rejuvenate skin, balanced with Hexylresorcinol, Centella Asiatica, Ceramides and Hyaluronic Acid to prevent irritation, improve and clarify skin texture, unclog pores, and treat acne. Safe for all skin types, great for dry, normal, combination, and oily skin.

Get that healthy glowing skin with these simple and safe steps with Hello Glow Advanced Rejuvenating Set for P360, available on Hello Glow’s official store page on Lazada and Shopee.

Also available in Watsons and all other leading departments and supermarket stores nationwide.

Holiday gift suggestions, beauty and fashion edition

SHOPPING for holiday gifts is not something everyone looks forward to. Introverts do not enjoy the holiday rush. With restrictions being eased, it is no surprise that we are experiencing huge crowds and heavy traffic again.

So we’ve compiled a list of beauty- and fashionrelated gifts that people would appreciate. Disclaimer: Most of these are P500 and above because I still don’t go to the stores. I just shop online so my information is limited.

■ The Beyond The Vines Dumpling Bag is made of lightweight and water-resistant nylon. I have this in XS, which already fits a lot. There is a micro size, a medium and an XL. The bag is designed with handles of two lengths and an elastic opening. It also features a convenient large flap pocket and a D-ring to attach your keys to. Check out www.beyondthevines.com or any of the Beyond The Vines concept stores at the Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Mall or Mall of Asia for color and size options. The micro size is the most soughtafter and always out of stock.

■ Not all powders are created equal. Clean beauty brand RMS Beauty’s “Un” Powder is a weightless, oil-absorbing setting powder that diffuses into the skin for an exquisite, translucent finish. This powder sets your makeup without the cakey look. Made from 100% silica, the “Un” Powder has pore-blurring properties and absorbs oil without any residue. You can apply this under a mask to avoid chafing and maskne. The “Un” Powder is exclusively available at Adora Department Store, which exclusively carries RMS Beauty.

■ Naturale Oil Based Multi Purpose Matte Stain is, at P75 each, a steal considering that you get a product that has been raved about by content creators and beauty enthusiasts including Toni Sia. My favorites are Hiraya and Mayumi. The formula is quite good.

It is lightweight and non-drying. I would describe this as a more opaque version of the Sunnies Face Lip Dip. You can find this brand on Shopee.

■ Any beauty

conscious person would love Benefit Cosmetics’ holiday kits. A good pick is the Holiday Cutie Beauty set, which includes three full-sized products (They’re Real! Magnet extreme length mascara, Hoola matte powder bronzer, and Gimme Brow+ fiber powder gel). You also get a mini The POREfessional Hydrate Primer hydrating pore primer. All these in a decorative tin can that you can reuse.

■ Burt’s Bees is one of my favorite brands of lip balm (I have about 10 of these lying around at home) and for the holidays, they have a limited-edition Salted Caramel flavor packaged in a box that looks like candy with their Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.

This set, called Burt’s Bees A Bit of Burt’s Bees Gift Salted Caramel, is available on Lazada and at Beauty Bar. ■ Volume 5 of The Beauty Edit (ed) Trunk has over 35 products worth P32,000 but you can get it for only P6,500. The trunk includes products from Shiseido, The Body Shop, Happy Skin, Issy & Co., Cetaphil, Colourette Cosmetics and many others. This would make a great gift for your mom, sister or best friend.

RMS Beauty “Un” Powder

B6 Monday, November 22, 2021

Take good care of yourself, believe that your fit is right

Power supply stability and reliability crucial to Philippine economic recovery

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HE country’s economic recovery hinges on the stability and reliability of power supply, and stakeholders must act in unison to ensure fuel and electricity rates do not hamper industries’ ability to rebound from the economic crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was the main message of the virtual town hall discussion organized by Stratbase ADR Institute, titled Ensuring Power Supply Security for a Sustainable Economic Recovery, held via Zoom on November 11.

“We need to attract supply by reducing red tape, which is the enemy of new supply,” said Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy.

“We need to diversify energy supply, particularly maximizing renewable energy, and diversifying energy sources.

We should undertake aggressive oil and gas exploration. Oil and gas will still be a reliable source in the next 20 to 30 years. Based on data from the DOE, we have enough (potential) oil to power our economy in the next 36 years, and enough gas in the next 90 years, but we’re just not utilizing the gas we have efficiently,” he added.

The senator cited the experience of Japan and Singapore, which do not produce coal or gas, but have managed to diversify their energy resources to not be beholden to a single country.

A stable power supply will improve our business climate, attract foreign investment, and create more jobs, therefore accelerating the revival of the Philippine economy, said Stratbase ADRI President Professor Dindo Manhit in his opening remarks to the virtual forum.

“Thus, the incoming government must consider energy policies that protect consumers from high electricity prices and the economy from losses caused by power outages,” he said.

“Initiatives towards the modernization, efficiency, and reliability of our power supply would foster sustainable and inclusive economic growth for the whole nation.” he added.

Professor Louie Montemar, Convenor

THE panelists of the virtual town hall discussion titled Ensuring Power Supply Security for a Sustainable Economic Recovery held via Zoom. of Bantay Konsyumer, Kuryente, Kalsada (BK3), highlighted the importance of the planning and coordination of maintenance cycles, and said that these must be governed by stakeholders in the industry.

“Government’s policies in the sector may need to be developed, clarified, or fine-tuned,” he said, adding that we need to accelerate the pace of technology adoption by developing the necessary regulatory framework, including raising the incentives for both the customer and the supply chain stakeholders.

“The power industry is a P30-trillion endeavor, ten times our current national budget. Improvements here are even more necessary as we ease into an even more digitized and thus more electric powerhungry social order.”

CitizenWatch Philippines Convenor Orlando Oxales, meanwhile, warned about the economically devastating effects of power outages on our economy.

“Energy resilience is a matter of national security that must have the purest approach and benefits our national interest, our people’s interest. We need a power and energy agenda devoid of corrupt interests.

We need a clear roadmap that ensures stable and affordable electricity for the country’s economic recovery,” he said.

“We must focus on what responds best to industrial needs,” said Jose Alejandro, Adviser for Energy and Power and Chair of Utilities for the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“We should act and decide with a positive sense of urgency, focus, integrity, unity, and courage.”

Ernesto Pantangco, Chairman of the Energy Committee of the Management Association of the Philippines, said energy security can be seen in three perspectives: supply, cost of power particularly generation costs, and demand-side management.

“Once the economy opens, demand is expected to pick up by approximately 5.28% annually. This translates to a demand growth of close to 600 MW in Luzon or 800 MW in terms of total Philippine requirement per year,” he said.

“The solution comes not only from trying to increase the supply but also from demand side management. This is a solution to tempering the growth of our energy demand, particularly the peak loads.

This comes in the form of energy efficiency, studies to lower the energy consumption of industries, shifting operations from peak to off-peak hours, and availing of time-of-use tariffs, insulation of rooftop solar powers to assist in peak load production.”

Other speakers in the forum were Meneleo Carlos, Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Federation of Philippine Industries, Inc. (FPI); Romeo Bernardo, Vice Chairman, Foundation for Economic Freedom; Bienvenido "Nonoy" Oplas, Jr., President, Minimal Government Thinkers; Atty. Terry Ridon, Convenor, Infrawatch PH; and Atty.

Victorio A. Dimagiba, President, Laban Konsyumer, Inc.

Sun Life Grepa completes offering for MSMEs, launches Accident ProSafe

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NEXPECTED workplace injuries and accidents can disrupt your employees’ lives and interrupt the overall productivity of your business.

To help businesses especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) protect their employees against these accidents and uncertainties, Sun Life Grepa Financial, Inc. (Sun Life Grepa), a major life insurance company in the Philippines, introduced Accident ProSafe.

Accident ProSafe is a packaged group insurance plan that offers comprehensive coverage against accidents designed for

MSMEs with five (5) to 200 employees.

“By creating safe environments, workplace injuries that result in lost days on the job can be minimized and can lessen negative effects on productivity.

The Accident ProSafe is an added protection intended not only to secure your employees against unfortunate events but to also boost their faith and loyalty in your company,” says Peter Miranda, Vice President for Sun Life Grepa Healthcare.

Sun Life Grepa’s Accident ProSafe offers a comprehensive protection

plan with benefits such as Group Personal Accident Insurance that provides a guaranteed benefit in case of accidental death, dismemberment or disablement. Likewise, it offers Accident Medical Reimbursement Benefit that reimburses inpatient and outpatient medical expenses incurred to treat bodily injuries due to accident.

The package also includes Group Hospital Cash Benefit that provides a fixed cash benefit for every full day of confinement due to accident.

Accident ProSafe has readily available premium rates that are designed to fit the budget of MSMEs. This is the third product for MSMEs that Sun Life Grepa has launched within the last year – the first two being Smart Care Plus and HIPSTER. As such, this completes the company's options for MSMEs who wish to keep their workforce protected.

Protect the safety and welfare of your employees with Accident ProSafe.

Be Hyped to Ignite Productivity (Be HIP) and get Sun Life Grepa as your Health Insurance Partner (Get HIP) today. For inquiries about Accident ProSafe, contact your Sun Life Grepa advisor, visit any Sun Life Grepa branch or email groupsales@ sunlifegrepa.com. You may also visit the official Sun Life Grepa Healthcare Facebook page at https://facebook.com/ sunlifegrepahealthcare.

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ITNESS is no longer one size fits all and the definition of being fit and healthy is no longer just physical.

Everyone is taking extra work towards achieving different fitness goals. Since the pandemic, many are now more motivated to staying fit and healthy. Everyone is simply taking good care of themselves due to the current health situation. Every person is geared towards living longer and healthier.

Just as everybody’s unique in its shape, size, and color, there are also varied fitness goals and journeys to get there. Here are some motivational tips that can help you get through your fitness journey: (1.) Set realistic goals more than groundbreaking ones; (2.)

Move at your own pace-but learn to commit everyday; (3.) Don’t compare your progress with that of others and (4.) Celebrate what makes your fitness journey unique.

Unlike before, getting fit is all about doing whatever works and matches your lifestyle and body type and not just about spending hours at the gym and toning that bod. Even if you don’t have time for that daily workout or you’re just a person who believes in cleansing, there is a Fit N’ Right that can match your fitness regime.

The all-new Fit N' Right gives us a choice on how we want to accomplish our fitness journey. It is tailor-fitted to our body's needs and there is no judgement on how you

Fit 'n Right's newest lineup of beverages. choose to be fit because a lot of people can relate to you.

Fit 'n Right offers a low‑calorie juice drink that can help support your fitness goals—whether you want to detoxify your body, burn fat, or control your eating.

Everyone has their own fitness journey.

Do not let anyone tell you what you should or should not do. You know your body more than anyone else. If you believe that a certain fitness regime works for you more than what others do, so be it. After all, it’s your fitness your way. As long as you believe that your Fit is Right and you’re taking good care of yourself, it’s all good.

To know more about the newest lineup of beverages, visit its website https://fitnright. com/ or follow its Facebook page https:// www.facebook.com/FitnRight/.

ADM launches New Wisium Premix Line in PH

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DM (NYSE: ADM), a global leader in animal nutrition, recently announced a new premix production line in the Philippines.

This investment positions ADM’s premix and nutrition services, as a major premix producer in the country with tailor-made, high-quality nutrition solutions that help farmers and feedmillers create value through performance, productivity and profitability.

ADM entered the Asian market more than 30 years ago and is already an established, important supplier of agricultural commodities and specialty ingredients for both the food and feed sectors. Wisium Premix offer was launched in the Philippines in February 2018, with a focus on supplying to local feed producers – including the swine and poultry sectors – and leveraging ADM’s global expertise through a holistic approach to production management. The last three months have seen Wisium offer expand in both China and Vietnam. ‘’The start-up of the Wisium premix line in the Philippines fits into our development strategy, proving our commitment to serve the local industry needs, providing quality products and services. This will not only create new opportunities in the country, especially in this time of pandemic, but will also give farmers and feed producers new perspectives regarding nutrition,’’ said Dr. Loren Mapua, Managing Director of ADM Animal Nutrition Philippines.

With a customer-oriented mission and vision for long term security, flexibility, and reliability, Wisium Philippines has been continuously expanding its offerings to

deliver innovative solutions and value-added services, that are adapted to local market demands.

The new premix line will enable Wisium to offer the following products and services in the Philippines: Micro and Macro Premix: a wide range of premixes customized to each species, animal life stage, and customer needs.

Near Infrared Technologies: offering quick predictions of nutrient values to ensure quality of raw materials and finished feed.

WeanUp Concept: a complete range of products and services adapted to every stage of a piglet’s growth. Natural AGP Alternatives: nutritional solutions developed to address specific zootechnical challenges related to demedication.

“The market is very demanding, and we constantly have to adapt our offer to industrial farmers and feed millers, taking into account the evolving nutritional requirements for each species. This is directly related to genetics, farm management, and nutrition. Our role is to take care of the latter so our farmers can focus on the other aspects of animal farming. The opening of our Wisium premix line further strengthens our position in the industry to help farmers achieve their goal of growing safe and healthy animals, by providing them the best nutrition available,’’ said Dr. Eski Esquivel, Industrial Business Director of ADM Animal Nutrition Philippines.

The new Wisium premix line located inside the ADM Compound in San Rafael, Bulacan, was inaugurated on November 17, 2021 via an online platform in live broadcast.

Security Bank Foundation raises more funds for scholars

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ECURITY Bank Corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm Security Bank Foundation Inc. (SBFI) held its fourth fund-raising event called Name That Tune on October 8, 2021 to support the education of its 121 scholars who are currently supported by the Foundation’s Regalo Mo, Kinabukasan Ko (RMKK) Scholarship Program.

The RMKK provides educational assistance to the bank’s guards, messengers, janitors, and other agency personnel, including their children.

Players took a shot at guessing the titles of the songs, reflecting various genres ranging from OPM, Hits of the 60s to 80s, Grammy award-winning songs and Asian Pop. Milgred David, a Security Bank employee

from Quality Assurance Division was hailed as grand champion.

“I love music and supporting this event is my way of giving back to the scholars. Just like music, I hope that all of us will be able to find the right key to surpass this pandemic and our lives go back to harmony soon,” says David.

Name That Tune is the fourth fundraiser for the year of RMKK. The Foundation will have its final fundraising event in December called Perfect Harmony. In addition, the Foundation also receives direct contributions of employees and clients through programs such as conversion of Security Bank Mastercard’s rewards to donation points. To know more about the program, visit bit.ly/ SupportAScholarNow.

Marketing BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, November 22, 2021 B7

Why toilets matter for tourism PR Matters

By Abigail L. Ho-Torres

Palacio de Memoria

CONRAD Manila

Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant

DIAMOND Hotel

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H, the toilet—a sanctuary, a safe space, and apparently something that can be a competitive advantage for the tourism industry.

According to research done by My Travel Research co-founders Caroly n Childs and Bronw y n White, restroom quality makes a huge difference in how tourists perceive destinations. While clean and well-maintained toilets make for a positive tourist experience, accessible, thoughtfully designed —and even quirky and entertaining toilets—encourage tourists to part with their hard-earned cash and even go for repeat visits.

Childs and White went on to found the International Toilet Tourism Awards in 2017, which recognized toilets in six categories: Best Tourism Economic Contributor, Best Location, Best Design, Quirkiest Toilet Experience, Best Accessible Toilet, and Strategic Commitment to Toilet Tourism. In a website post promoting the 2021 edition of the awards program, Childs highlighted three points showing the positive impact of clean toilets on tourism:

n Toilets are a key brand asset for tourism. n Great toilets have huge PR value for destinations or tourism businesses. n Toilets convert interest into tourists—and dollars.

Seal of good toilet-keeping

THIS was precisely why it made perfect sense for my team in Maynilad to partner with the Department of Tourism in recognizing tourism-related establishments with outstanding toilets, through the inaugural award of the Seal of Good Toilet-Keeping.

An offshoot of the Golden Kubeta Awards, which Maynilad started in 2016, this program is aligned with the DOT’s thrust of promoting sustainable tourism.

“For tourism, public toilets are crucial. These should not be only clean but also safe and comfortable for tourists to use. Simple

Mamalou’s Italian Kitchen

as it may seem, but toilets could make or break a tourist’s travel experience,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said during the virtual signing of the memorandum of understanding between Maynilad and the DOT in September.

In celebration of World Toilet Day last Friday, 14 DOT-nominated establishments became the first-ever awardees of the Seal of Good Toilet-Keeping, including nine hotels, three restaurants, an events venue, and a gas station: n Azumi Boutique Hotel n Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant n Casa Buenas n Conrad Manila n Diamond Hotel Philippines n Kingsford Hotel n Mama Lou’s Kitchen n Marriott Hotel Manila n Palacio de Memoria n Sheraton Manila Hotel n SLT Gasmart Corp.

(Shell service station) n Sofitel Philippine Plaza n Solaire Resort and Casino n The Mella Hotel

These 14 establishments had to pass stringent physical and document audits that evaluated not only the cleanliness, completeness, accessibility, safety, and overall look of their toilets, but also their compliance with relevant government laws and

Azumi Botique

regulations on wastewater management. The Seal may be renewed yearly, subject to another round of physical and document audits by Maynilad’s Wastewater Management team.

Standards for public toilets

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) actually has standards that public toilets in the region, whether or not they are located in tourist destinations, should strive to adhere to.

“A basic yet vital component in the tourism industry that can make or break the tourist experience is when the tourist has to use the toilet. These toilets need to be clean, hygienic, complete with various amenities and facilities, located conveniently, well maintained and using proper waste management systems. There are various types of toilets within the Asean region with different norms and designs. This standard looks at common criterias (sic) that should be practiced at all public toilets in the Asean region,” the Asean Public Toilet Standard (APTS) states.

The APTS is divided into four main areas: design and environmental management system, amenities and facilities, cleanliness, and safety.

The design and environmental management system criterion covers proper wastewater manage-

ment, pleasant landscape and design, cleanliness, appropriate signages, and accessibility for persons with disability and the elderly.

The amenities and facilities category includes available cubicle space—enough for adults to move; provision of tissue, toilet paper or hand dryer, trash bin, soap or hand wash, and water; and inclusion of coat hangers and ledges in cubicles.

The cleanliness criterion covers proper air circulation and ventilation; absence of bad odor, dirty areas, and wet spots on the floor; presence of trained cleaning and maintenance personnel; placement of a customer suggestion box; and regular cleaning and maintenance of toilet facilities.

The safety component includes adequate lighting, safe location, absence of slippery spots on the f loor, structurally sound construction, and the use of environment-friendly cleaning agents.

Most of these criteria also appear in the audit checklist of the Golden Kubeta Awards and the Seal of Good Toilet-Keeping.

A greater advocacy

THE Seal of Good Toilet-Keeping is just the latest addition to Maynilad’s Kubeta PH program, an advocacy that aims to spread awareness of proper wastewater management in the country. Through its

various initiatives, the program seeks to unite stakeholders in a movement to protect the environment by taking an active role in our shared responsibility of ensuring the proper treatment of wastewater.

The choice of the word kubeta as the campaign handle is in line with the thrust to bring the topic of wastewater management to mainstream conversation.

Through partnerships, such as the one with the DOT, the Kubeta PH program envisions a country that cares about hygiene from the inside—through proper wastewater management—and out.

A belated happy World Toilet Day to all.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations.

Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

Sports

THE Tuguegarao-Perlas Spikers celebrate their victory as F2 Logistics’ Ara Galang is slowly making her way back.

BusinessMirror

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B8

| Monday, November 22, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Bolts tap Bishop for Governors’ Cup

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ERALCO replaced National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran Shabazz Muhammad with Panamanian standout Tony Bishop as the Bolts’ import in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup that is due to start later this month.

Muhammad had to attend to pressing family matters and won’t be able to fly in early enough.

“Shabazz Muhammad will not come because of a family emergency.

In fact, he already had his visa secured but due to unforeseen circumstances, he won’t make it in time,” Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo told BusinessMirror on Sunday. “Mr. Bishop is now processing his visa and vaccination cards, among other requirements.”

Muhammad, 29, played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks from 2013 to 2018. His replacement, 6-foot-6 Bishop, played for the Panamanian national and in several American and European leagues.

Meralco coach Norman Black also told BusinessMirror that they have considered Bishop, a 32-yearold NBA G League veteran, before Muhammad.

“We can’t wait for him [Muhammad] any longer so we have to find a replacement,” Black said.

“We are just a little bit lucky that he [Bishop] is still available for us.”

Bishop played recently for the Mets de Guaynabo in the Puerto Rican league Baloncesto Superior Nacional where he averaged 19.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season.

He is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Already in town are NorthPort’s Cameron Forte, Magnolia’s Mike Harris, San Miguel Beer’s Brandon Brown, NLEX’s KJ McDaniels, Terrafirma’s Antonio Hester, TNT Tropang Giga’s McKenzie Moore, Phoenix’s Paul Harris and Alaska’s Olu Ashaolu.

Blackwater’s Jaylen Bond was expected on Sunday night, while Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Justin Brownlee and Rain or Shine’s Henry Walker are coming in on Wednesday.

Josef Ramos

By Josef Ramos

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IPA City—F2 Logistics booked another lopsided victory this time over Baguio City, 25-12, 25-10, 25-6, on Sunday to stay unscathed in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation’s Champions League at the Aquamarine Recreational Center here.

Coach Ramil de Jesus got the chance to shuffle the Cargo Smashers and experiment with various plays and give his bench opportunities to showcase their skills in the match that lasted one hour and 12 minutes.

“I just wanted to see who are the players who I can lean on in the upcoming games, so I gave them the exposure to find out who to pick when it matters,” said De Jesus, who wasn’t surprised to see the Cargo Movers limit the Lady Highlanders to only six points in the third set.

“I know the capability of this team,” he said.

De Jesus gave Ara Galang minutes as a starter and the former De La Salle star answered with two points on her serves that gave her team an 8-2 lead at the start of the second set.

“I know where Ara [Galang] came from. If you don’t know her as a player, it’s so hard for the coaches to know what to expect from her right now,” he said. “Time will come for her to show what she can offer.”

Galang said that her mindset is to improve

Aftermath of Gerrard’s departure from Rangers WHEN Steven Gerrard left Rangers in the Scottish Premier League (SPL) a few months into the season for Aston Villa in the English Premier League (EPL) just this past week, I felt bad for his former squad.

I can understand leaving because of a better opportunity. But in my opinion, he should have finished the year because there would have been an opening in the EPL by season’s end anyways.

One can make the argument that openings for a big club might not be there. Really? If you ask me, the jobs of the managers of Watford, Southampton, and Leicester might be in jeopardy. There’s Manchester United but that will definitely not be a stop for Gerrard owing to his Liverpool roots.

It is an obvious move to England so when Jurgen Klopp decides to vacate his seat at Liverpool, Gerrard can slide back in.

Think of how the officials, staff, players, and fans of Rangers must feel. While other SPL clubs especially Celtic might gloat—they shouldn’t. Didn’t Brendan Rodgers leave them as well for a return to the EPL with Leicester City?

Furthermore, what does that say about the SPL as a whole?

They’re like a brief stopover until some folks decide to

SAN JUAN City’s Rhenz Abando goes for a layup during Game One of their bestof-three finals against AICC Manila.

PSC national sports summit phase 2 on

CARGO MOVERS GO UNSCATHED

her skills and regain her form after being sidelined for almost two years without games due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’m taking it one game at a time, day-by-day. I’m really focusing on what I can contribute to the team,” said Galang, who had five points in the match. “I just stay focused every game day. I need to trust myself, I need to gain confidence. I’m thankful that the coaches are trusting me.”

Kim Kianna Dy took charge in scoring for F2 Logistics with 13 points.

The Cargo Movers established a 14-0 lead in the third set before Baguio City scored its first point on a service error by substitute setter Rem Cailing.

Cailing, who delivered all of her seven points from the service zone.

Majoy Baron contributed six points for the Cargo Movers.

F2 Logistics takes on PetroGazz at 4 p.m. on Monday in the weeklong tournament backed by Rebisco, Pitmaster Foundation Inc., Top Speed, 1Pacman Partylist, Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine

Olympic Committee as platinum sponsors and F2 Logistics, Asics, PLDT, MVP Sports Foundation and Mikasa as gold sponsors and BCDA, Philippine Red Cross, Lipa City, Davis Paint and Emerald PVC Pipes, Fittings and Doors as silver sponsors with PNVF godfather, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Champions League, giving his full support.

Tuguegarao-Perlas Spikers, meanwhile, beat California Precision Sports, 25-21, 25-14, 25-19, to bounce back from an opening-day defeat to Petro Gazz.

Nicole Tiamzon posted 18 points she highlighted with 14 kills and two service points, while Michelle Morente had 11 points on top of eight kills and two blocks as Perlas improved to 1-1 won-lost.

California Precision Sports dropped to 0-2 win-loss record after losing to F2 Logistics on the opening day.

The Perlas Spikers lost a set to a

young and promising CPS side but managed to keep their poise to snatch the win.

CPS took the second set to level, but the Perlas Spikers were able to dominate the next two behind Tiamzon and Morente.

Casiey Dongallo led CPS with 18 points while Jelai Gajero added nine points, including two service aces, 12 digs and eight receptions.

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go south of the border to England.

Although one can never compare the EPL to the SPL because the comparisons are oceans apart.

The EPL has the best load of managerial talent in Pep Guardiola, Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Rafa Benitez, Marcelo Bielsa, Antonio Conte, and Claudio Ranieri to name but a few.

They have the lion’s share of football talent, the best television revenue, and largest fan base in the world.

Still.... I think Steven Gerrard should have finished this season with Rangers then depart if he wishes so. I think everyone in the blue side of Glasgow knows he wasn’t going to stay long.

The die has been cast.

Gerrard is at Aston Villa where he won his first match as boss, 2-1, over Brighton Hove Albion just this past Saturday.

And I remember a quote by Jurgen Klopp when he first joined Liverpool where he said, “It’s not so important what people think when you come in.... It’s much more important what people think when you leave.”

Gerrard joined Rangers during the 2018-19 season; two seasons after their return to the EPL. Rangers were in third place then with Celtics on their way to their seventh consecutive title. They finished second over the next two seasons before winning it all during the 2020-21 season while staying undefeated.

When Gerrard left them, Rangers defeated Ross County, 4-2, and atop the table with a 9-3-1 record; four points ahead of Celtic (8-2-3) – 30-26.

So in that regard, he did take Rangers over the hump.

The onus should be on the SPL management who should make it in their plans to turn their league into one of the best in the world and not as a league for managers to cool their heels before taking the train down south to London.

Now all Rangers fans can do is hope that new manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, who played for their club from 1998-2001 (scoring 13 goals in 73 appearances) can help them retain the title over a hard-charging Celtic.

Their next match is this November 26 against Sparta Prague in Europa League play then return to the SPL to take on Livingston (in 10 spot in a league of 12) on November 28 Now, their season really begins.

The Knights unleashed a 10-1 run with 4:29 left courtesy of Renato Ular, Larry Rodriguez, Alvin Abundo and Jhonard Clarito to grab the 7568 lead for good from a 66-65 deficit.

The feat not only avenged San Juan’s 75-69 eliminations defeat to Manila last November 15 but also put the Knights a win away from clinching the crown.

Former University of Santo Tomas playmaker Rhenz Abando, who will suit up for Letran in the next National Collegiate Athletic Association season, fired 17 points on a six-of-nine field goal shooting to steer San Juan, while skipper Orlan Wamar chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Rodriguez added 10 points on top of seven boards while Clarito contributed nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

San Juan, which booked a finals berth after surviving Davao Occidental, 85-84, in the knockout semifinals Friday, started hot by pulling away from a 15-14 opening quarter lead to 40-29 at the half.

Manila, however, sizzled in the third with a 30-18 blast spearheaded

by Chris Bitoon and Hesed Gabo to grab the 59-58 upperhand entering the fourth.

The Knights refused to be intimidated with Abando steering the crew and Ular and Rodriguez stepping up in the pivotal stretch.

Gabo and Bitoon finished with 22 and 15 points for Manila, but San Juan proved too much to handle.

San Juan also banked on its bench led by Abando, Rodriguez and Ular by scoring 49 points.

Game Two of the finals is on Sunday with the Knights aiming for a sweep.

Korda, Ko, 2 others tie for lead, Saso crashes out of contention

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APLES, Florida—Nelly Korda was watching from the tee box on the par-3 fifth hole as Jin Young Ko rolled in a birdie putt from 10 feet, the fourth of seventh straight birdies for the South Korean star.

Moments later, Korda holed a 45foot chip for birdie.

It was like that all day at the CME Group Tour Championship. It’s been like that all year.

Now their race to be No. 1 on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) Tour goes all the way to the final round of the season.

Ko rode her stretch of seven straight birdies to a 6-under 66. Korda answered by overpowering the par 5s on the back nine at Tiburon for a 67. They were part of a four-way tie for the lead Saturday going into the final round, with nothing

Marcial, Sultan cheer for Valientes

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San Juan dribblers move one victory shy of crown AN JUAN City stepped up in the crunch to turn back AICC Manila, 80-74, and draw the first blood in their best-ofthree finals of the FilBasket Subic Championship at the Subic gym on Saturday.

HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) starts a series of consultation sessions with groups of stakeholders on Monday for the last phase of the National Sports Summit (NSS) 2021.

PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and his commissioners and officers are looking forward to the discussions to firm up resolutions derived from the NSS’s phase 1.

Representatives from different government agencies and the private sector have confirmed their participation in the sessions. ”We are now on the final lap of our NSS, it is our duty to ensure that the future of Philippine Sports continues to be successful so the next generation may inherit the victories and lessons we had,” Ramirez said.

“The take-aways we have from the NSS may serve as guiding light for the future.”

After the success of NSS phase 1 Sports Conversations earlier this year, the PSC is now shifting to crafting resolutions and drafting appropriate course of actions that could be used by sports leaders, lawmakers and stakeholders for the development and continued success of Philippine sports.

“What we will be passing on are not mere words but torches to light the way and ensure the continued success of sports and the different sports stakeholders.” Ramirez said.

Among the resolutions to be discussed are frameworks and guidelines for different sectors in sports like women in sports, indigenous games and para sport.

PSC Chief of Staff and Philippine Sports Institute National Training Director Marc Edward Velasco is the project head of the NSS. He will represent the PSC along with PSC Planning and Research Division Chief Dr. Lauro Domingo.

less than $1.5 million and LPGA player of the year on the line.

None of that seems to faze Korda, a 23-year-old American with an elegant swing who is ruthless when it comes to competing.

“It’s for other people,” Korda said of how the stage is set for the LPGA finale. “I’m just out there to do my job, taking a shot at a time, and see where it takes me. That’s all you can do.”

They were tied with Celine Boutier of France, who started with a four-shot lead and wasn’t hurt by her 72, and Nasa Hataoka of Japan

HE Zamboanga Valientes didn’t get any win in the inaugural Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) but got more than enough cheers from Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial and rising boxing star Jonas Sultan.

The Valientes went winless, yielding to Platinum (7-21), Purefoods (8-21), Limitless (1921) and TNT (18-21) on Saturday in the first of six legs of the tournament at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The second leg are due next weekend and Marcial is confident his fellow Zamboangueños will get that elusive victory.

“I am encouraging everyone to support our team Viva Zamboanga Valientes,” Marcial said. “We [Sultan and Marcial] both trained with Valientes players and we’re going all out for them.”

“One of the popular players that Zamboangueño fans are cheering for is Das Esa,” World Boxing Organization international bantamweight champion Sultan said.

Esa, a Tausug, started his humble beginning as a varsity player in one of the top universities in Zamboanga.

His talent was recognized during the Ramadan Cup the city hosted.

Also on Marcial, the team are Gino Jumaoas, Kyle Neypes, Marc Cardona, JR Cawaling and Rey de Mesa.

The Zamboanga Valientes MLV is owned by Michael Venezuela, Ramon, Ramoncito Talisayon, Wesley Sun and Francis Mark Hernandez. Josef Ramos who had the low round of a windblown Saturday at 64. They were at 14-under 202, setting up a final day bursting with possibilities.

Yuka Saso carded another 73 in the third round to slip out of contention. The world No. 6—who opened with a 66—fell into a tie for 40th place with seven others—10 strokes off the leaders. AP

NELLY KORDA hits out of a greenside bunker on the 16th hole during the third round on Saturday. AP